Henry Evans

Henry Evans was born on 2 Jun 1840 at Pendeford Hall. We believe he attended Bridgnorth school. By the time his father died in 1859 the future seemed uncertain and the family had been forced to relinquish the tenancy of Pendeford Hall.

Henry Evans in 1896

The collapse of the coaching business and the pressures of a failing aspiration of the family to join the wealthy landed classes meant that each of his brothers had to find a new way in the world. Henry worked for the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Bank and eventually became a Bank Manager. He was also an active member of the Wolverhampton volunteers.

In the 1871 census Henry, a bank clerk, is living with his mother and two brothers in Tettenhall. By the 1881 census after his mother’s death he is living with his sister Sarah and an adopted niece (later to be Aunt Og). It is clear that Sarah and Henry were close as seen in Henry’s will dated Dec 1880, where she is named as his sole executor. It is also clear that most of the Evans family possessions passed in 1879 to Sarah and Henry and hence into our possession. This unexecuted will demonstrates a number of family tensions and the fact that Henry, together with his sister, felt he was in charge of what was left of the family. He was the main executor of his mother’s will. Whilst the marriages of the two previous generations were aimed at furthering the fortunes of the family, the social milieu in which Henry’s brothers and sister operated was very different.

Thomas married a Governess, eventually abandoning his family and fleeing to Australia. Charles left at an early age for Australia and eventually settled in New Zealand. The other brothers were left at home and are listed employed such as Auctioneer and Insurance Clerk – eventually marrying but far from the circumstances of the days when their grandfather moved to Pendeford Hall in the 1820’s.

Mary Evans will of 1878 (written 1874) shows the cash left in the family was measured in hundreds of pounds – but the host and wealth of family objects that passed from her to Henry and Sarah is still considerable despite division between the generations and many sold items.

Sarah married her cousin General Charles Richard Ogden Evans but had no children. All her family possessions passed directly to Henry.

Henry, himself did not marry until 1889 at the age of 49. His bride was Florence Eliza Marten. From this period on we have a lot of photos of all the family. They moved from Tettenhall to Hagley in about 1895.

Although Henry was eighteen years older than his wife she died before him, her ill health brought on by the tragic death of Wilmot their only son on the Somme in 1916.

Henry Evans himself died on 1 July 1923. His will and associated papers have survived

Family of Henry EVANS and Florence Eliza (Floss) MARTEN