Robert Evans
Original information:
Robert Evans (1826-1911), a bricklayer, was 24 when he emigrated to Canterbury with his wife Sarah (23), and children Richard (b. 1848) and Lucy (infant). It seems he worked as a bricklayer and brickmaker. The family moved to Rangiora and were living there in 1900. His son Richard was a noted shearer and dairy farmer of Fernside.
Readers’ response:
Robert was born in 1826 in Newington, Surrey, England. His parents were Richard Evans (1800-March 22, 1872), a yeoman/gardener, and Jane Vale (November 1803-July 17, 1886). Robert and Sarah married on December 25, 1845, at the parish church, Parish of St Mary, Newington, Surrey.
After arriving in Canterbury, the couple had a further 12 children, many of them dying young. According to a family member, Robert worked on the Union Bank building in Lyttelton. Robert was a pioneer Oddfellow in Canterbury, having joined the City of Norwich Lodge, Lyttelton, soon after its establishment in 1850. Robert was elected the first presiding officer of the Loyal Rangiora Lodge and was elected as a life honorary member. He was also a prominent member of the Good Templar Lodge in Rangiora, and honorary member of the Resolution Division of the Sons and Daughters of Temperance.
Apparently Robert helped build the Lyttelton Gaol, although this is not substantiated. The family did move to Rangiora in 1858, and also spent time in Riccarton.
Robert first worked as a sawyer in the bush − he claimed to have cut the second lot of timber taken out. Robert and John, his brother, were bricklayers in Rangiora. They dissolved the partnership in August 1862.
Robert became a farmer at Fernside and was bankrupt in 1874. He died on May 20, 1911, at Kaiapoi. Robert and Sarah are buried in St John’s Anglican Cemetery in Ashley Street, Rangiora. 1
Footnotes:
1. Sarndra Lees, unpublished family history
Robert and Sarah EVANS [nee KITCHENER] children:
1 [possible] Child Evans b and d bef 1848
2 Richard b 24 April 1848 d 19 April 1944 married Georgina MALLETT and had 6 children
3 Lucy Jane b c1849 d 16 Dec. 1917 of liver cancer m1 Benjamin Smith PAWSEY and had 9 children m2 James BROWN
4 Sarah b 1850 d 1850
5 Caroline Sophia b 4 Nov 1851 d 30 April 1928 of cancer m1 John FREW and had 18 children m2 John KERR
6 Robert John b 21 June 1853 d 13 Nov 1882 (buried with father) m Mary Ann BULL and had 3 children
7 Jane Agnes b 19 Nov 1855 d 19 Feb 1937 had 1 child father unknown m?1 John JONES m2 William Henry LEDBROOK
8 Sarah b 1956 d 31 Aug 1866 of burns (buried with mother)
9 Letitia b 1 July 1858 d 8 Aug 1858
10 James Edward b 13 March 1860 d 10 June 1941 of Uraemia and cerebral thrombosis m1 Fanny STEVENSON (d 19 Nov 1918 of Influenza at Kaiapoi) James and Fanny were my G G Grandparents and had 9 children. James m2 1920 Harriett ATKINSON.
11 Matilda b 11 Sep 1861 d 9 March 1864
12 [possible child] Henry Thomas b June 1863 d 17 March 1864
13 Maryanne b 29 Aug 1865 m William John SMITH
14 Charlotte Emily b 29 April 1868 13 June 1966 m Alfred Henry WILDE at least 1 child
15 Sarah 10 June 1873 d June 1966 m Arthur Metcalf BERRY and had 5 children
See ‘Mrs Pawsey’ in ‘The 1900 Photographs’ section (Cressy) – this is Lucy Jane their eldest daughter.
Photograph of Robert and Sarah on their 60th wedding anniversary (25 December 1906) is available from Canterbury Museum. Negative 10158 – Canterbury Pilgrims & Early Settlers Assn. Collection.