Arthur John Evans, 1851-1941

Abstract

Arthur John Evans was born on 8 July 1851 at Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. He was the eldest son of John Evans, a member of the firm of John Dickinson & Co., paper-makers; a distinguished geologist, antiquary and collector, Fellow (1864) and Treasurer (1878) of the Royal Society, and a leading member of that group of men—including Lubbock, Tylor, Francis Galton, and Pitt Rivers—who established the new studies of anthropology and prehistoric archaeology on a scientific basis in this country. John Evans’s grandfather, Lewis Evans, and his uncle and fatherin-law, John Dickinson, were also Fellows of the Royal Society. Between Arthur Evans and his father there was not only striking personal likeness, but an intimate correspondence of tastes, and a generous rivalry in scientific interests. As early as 1866 Arthur accompanied his father on one of his visits to the Somme gravels, and himself found a palaeolith in situ . Brought up among collections and many scientific visitors, he soon became a collector himself, a rapid and accurate draughtsman—as the manuscript catalogue of his own treasures showed in 1868—and an accomplished linguist: in later years he addressed foreign academies in French, Italian and German. Unusual short-sight did not debar him from keen enjoyment of country life and natural beauty, nor acute sufferings at sea from persistent travel, till aviation offered a more excellent way.