Mary Owen

Mary Evans was born Mary Owen, probably in about 1743 and must have come from a wealthy family, receiving a good education. She was a key figure in establishing the Evans family in the coaching business in Wolverhampton. Because a Daniel Banton was guardian to her children and executor of her husband’s will, it has long been speculated that her maiden name was Banton.

She married John Evans on 28 Jun 1767 in St Peter’s Wolverhampton. The original Marriage Act form shows both John Evans and Mary Owen were literate and signed their names. The availability of this document means that we can compare the signatures of John Evans on his will with that on his marriage certificate. They are very similar, giving us good grounds to believe this is the right marriage. To prove how tricky this is there is another marriage between John Evans and Mary Owen in 1769 but here the extant form shows that both the couple are illiterate. The date of June 1767 is perfect for the birth of their first son Richard Evans baptised in Apr 1768.

John Evans died in his early forties in 1784 leaving Mary Evans with six young children. His will indicates that she was well provided for but does not mention the Old Bell Inn, Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton. Possibly this is because it was already in Mary’s name. The evidence, we do have, shows that as a widow Mary Evans proceeded firmly to take over the family business for the eventual career of her eldest son Richard. Daniel Banton was the co-executor of John’s will and must have been a key advisor and mentor.

There are a few problems in establishing the precise relationship between the Evans family and Daniel Banton. Daniel is a successful farmer and landowner in Shipley and a number of documents survive in local archives from him. At the marriage of Mary’s daughter Mary Evans to John Lea Hayley, Daniel Banton is named as the young Mary’s guardian and in Mary’s own will Daniel Banton is the first mentionned individual

The Evans family Tree drawn up between 1900 and 1930 also has a confused picture of the ancestors at this time. This tree correctly lists Mary’s four sons (Richard, Charles, Thomas and John) but confuses Elizabeth Styles, who was in fact one of her two daughters.

To disentangle this, the Wolverhampton Chronicle is a key piece of evidence backed up by parish register information from St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton. In 1790 the Chronicle relates how Mary Evans, widow, acquires the Red Lion Inn in Wolverhampton and her intention to continue running the Old Bell as well. This Red Lion was already a major coaching inn in Wolverhampton, but in the next twenty years under her son Richard it reached its heyday as a renowned staging post for the London to Shrewsbury coach run. The Red Lion was a major civic centre of Wolverhampton and was demolished in the 1860’s to build the new Town Hall.

Mary’s will, made during a long illness before her death at the age of 49 in 1792 only goes to emphasize the importance of Daniel Banton in her life. When she died all her children except Richard were still minors. Daniel Banton, the substantial landowner in his own right is named as the sole executor.

A few years after her death two of her children had married into the Styles family, another inn owning family in Staffordshire and Worcestershire. Her second son Charles married into the wealthy Bradney Marsh family, heiress of the Lloyd house, Penn. Her third son, Thomas, went on to be a soldier and fight in the Anglo-American war of 1812, before becoming a General and holding many high posts in Gibraltar, Malta and Canada.

One of Thomas’s sons was baptized Thomas Owen Evans. This helps to confirm Mary’s maiden name.