Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Evans, Theophilus
EVANS, THEOPHILUS (1694–1767), divine, born in 1694, near Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, was the fifth son of Charles Evans of Pen y Wenalt, Cardiganshire. He was probably educated at Shrewsbury; he was ordained deacon in 1718, and priest in 1719, by the Bishop of St. David's. He was domestic chaplain to the Gwyns of Garth. In 1728 the Bishop of St. David's gave him the small rectory of Llanynis, Brecknockshire, which he resigned in 1738 on being presented to the rectory of Llangammarch. From 1739 till his death he held the living of St. David's in Llanfaes. In 1763 he resigned Llangammarch to his son-in-law, Hugh Jones. He died in 1767.
He married Alice Bevan, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. One of the daughters married Hugh Jones, and became the mother of Theophilus Jones, author of the history of Brecknockshire.
Evans's works are: 1. ‘Pwll i Pader,’ 1739. A Welsh comment on the Lord's Prayer in a series of sermons after the manner of Bishop Blackall. 2. ‘Drych y Prif Oesoedd,’ 1739. A very popular book on Welsh antiquities, which is said to have gone through thirty editions, and was translated into English as a ‘View of the Primitive Ages.’ It is utterly unhistorical, begins from the Tower of Babel, and declares Arthur to be as real as Alexander. 3. ‘History of Modern Enthusiasm, from the Reformation to Present Times,’ 1752 and 1759. An attack upon ‘enthusiasts,’ fifth-monarchy men, French prophets, methodists, &c. Evans's grandson says that he was the mildest and simplest of men, and on friendly terms with the dissenters whom he assailed in this book.
[Theophilus Jones's History of Brecknockshire, pp. 274–5; Life prefixed to Primitive Ages.]