b.
6 Nov., 1877
, at
Cwmbwrla
, near
Swansea
, the second s. of
John
Evans
,
steelworker
, and
Mary
his wife. Educated at
Swansea Grammar School
, the
University College of Wales
,
Aberystwyth
, and
St. John's College
,
Cambridge
, he held the degrees of
B.A. (Wales)
,
B.A. (London)
, and
M.A. (Cantab.)
After
teaching
at
Wellington College
and
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School
,
Carmarthen
, he was on the staff of the
High School for Boys
,
Cardiff
, from
1905 to 1917
. In that year he was appointed
Headmaster of the County School
,
Aberaeron, Cards.
, and held the post until his retirement in
1944
. He wrote a number of history books, among them
History of England and Wales
(
1909
,
1910
);
Making of Modern Wales
(
1912
);
Wales and the Wars of the Roses
(
1915
);
Once upon a time
(
1929
);
At Such and Such a time
(
1931
);
Long long ago
(
1932
);
The Age of Expansion
(
1933
). In
1940
he was
President
of the
Welsh Secondary Schools Association
, and for a period he was one of the representatives of the
Headmasters of Secondary Schools
upon the
University of Wales Court
.
Howell
Evans
was a man of wide interests, and refused to be confined within the limits of a teacher's professional life, considerable though his output of historical text-books was. In his presidential address to the
Welsh Secondary Schools' Association
(
1940
) he expounded his educational ideas, emphasising particularly the importance of individuality and the need to avoid the imposition of a colourless uniformity upon every pupil. He poured scorn on the prevailing tendency towards centralisation and rationalisation, and commended the public schools of
England
for maintaining the principle of independence in education; he gave it as his opinion that the powers of educational administrators were increasing, and should be curtailed. He was an enthusiastic
gardener
and an
expert on chrysanthemums
. He m. in
1904
,
Gwenllian
Howells
, of
Briton Ferry, Glam.
, and they had four sons. He d. at
Aberaeron
,
30 Apr. 1950
and was buried in
Cardiff
.
