Arthur Wade Wade-Evans (born Arthur Wade Evans) (31 August 1875 – 4 January 1964) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

clergyman and historian.

Biography

Evans was born in Fishguard,

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park oc ...

, in south Wales on 31 August 1875 and did not include his mother's maiden name in his surname until 1899, when he was 24 years old. His father, Titus Evans, was a master mariner. Evans was educated at Haverfordwest Grammar school. In 1893, he matriculated at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

, graduating in 1896. He was ordained deacon in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

in 1898 and then served as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

in various parishes, including Ealing,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and Welsh Bicknor. In 1909, he was appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of France Lynch, where he remained until 1926. He campaigned for the

disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The pos ...

. He was, from 1926 to 1932, vicar of Potterspury with

Furtho Furtho is a deserted medieval village and former parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is now part of Potterspury civil parish. The origin of the village's name is uncertain: 'before the hill-spur' or 'ford hill-spur' are conjectured. ...

and Yardley Gobion (1926–32), before his final appointment as rector of

Wrabness Wrabness is a small village and civil parish near Manningtree, Essex, England. The village is located six miles (10 km) west of Harwich. Wrabness railway station is served by trains on the Mayflower Line. Wrabness had a population of app ...

from 1932 to 1957. He then retired to Frinton-on-Sea,

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

. He died on 4 January 1964. He was a historian of early Britain, the Celtic church and

Welsh law Welsh law ( cy, Cyfraith Cymru) is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd.Law Society of England and Wales (2019)England and Wales: A World Jurisdiction of Choice eport(Link accessed: 16 March 202 ...

, although some of his theories were unorthodox. He translated and studied many early historical sources, with his publications including ''

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the '' Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considere ...

's "History of the Britons"'' (1938) ''Coll Prydain'' (1950) and ''The Emergence of England and Wales'' (1956, 1959). Church history publications included journal articles on the lives of the saints and on church plate, ''Parochiale Wallicanum'' (1911), an analysis and translation of the Latin text of the ''Life of St David'' (1923), and ''Welsh Christian Origins'' (1934). He also edited ''Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae'', an invaluable edition of Welsh saints' lives, mostly from the British Library Manuscript Vespasian A.xiv. He was also a contributor to many journals and newspapers. In 1909, he published ''Welsh Medieval Law'', a translation of Llyfr Cyfnerth; he later wrote an article on Welsh law for the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade-Evans, Arthur 1875 births 1964 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford 20th-century Welsh Anglican priests 20th-century Welsh historians People from Fishguard People from Tendring (district) People from Chalford