Llewelyn David Bevan (11 September 1842 – 19 July 1918) was a

Congregational church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister and academic active in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.Gunson, Niel;
Bevan, Llewelyn David (1842 - 1918)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 7, MUP, 1979, pp 283-285.

Early life

Bevan was born in Llanelly, Carmarthen, Wales, son of Hopkin Bevan, actuary, and his wife Eliza, ''née'' Davies, a Congregational minister's daughter. Bevan had plans for a legal career, but was converted by the preaching of Henry Grattan Guinness. Bevan studied at New College, then at the University of London (B.A., 1862 and LL.B. 1865) . Ordained in 1865, Bevan assisted Thomas Binney at

King's Weigh House Chapel The King's Weigh House was the name of a Congregational church congregation in London. Its Victorian church building in Mayfair is now the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile. History A building called the "King's Weyhows" ...

; then 1869-75 was minister of Tottenham Court Chapel and the building, one of the largest Congregational churches in London, was often crowded. Bevan married Louisa Jane, ''née'' Willett in Southampton on 2 April 1870. In 1873 Bevan won the Marylebone seat on the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

supporting 'free, compulsory and secular' education. In 1874 Bevan visited the United States of America and ministered at the Central Church, Brooklyn for two months. Bevan subsequently received offers from several churches including the

Collins Street Independent Church St Michael's Uniting Church is a church in Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins Street in central Melbourne, Australia. Originally the Collins Street Independent Church, a Congregational Union of Australia Church, and later Collins Street Uniting Ch ...

, Melbourne, Australia, before accepting to minister at the Brick Presbyterian Church (New York City) in 1876. Bevan became moderator of the New York Presbytery in 1880. Awarded a doctorate by Princeton University in 1882, Bevan moved back to London where he was urged to stand for Parliament. Partly because his family's health often suffered during the winter months, Bevan decided instead to accept a fourth offer to minister at the Collins Street Independent Church.

Australia

Bevan and his family arrived in Melbourne aboard the ''Valetta'' on 6 November 1886, Bevan was to be a leader of Protestant intellectual life in Melbourne for the next 23 years. Bevan was chairman of the Congregational Union of Victoria and a vice-president of Congregational international councils at London in 1891 and Boston in 1899. He was also chairman of the jury of education at the Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition, 1888, for which he was honoured by the French government; in 1891 Bevan served on a parliamentary committee to study the educational systems of Germany, France, and the United States. Bevan was also a supporter of Federation, some urged him to contest the seat of Corangamite but he declined. Bevan was also a collector of books and antique ceramics; and a recognized student of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

. In February 1910 Bevan became principal of

Parkin College The Uniting College for Leadership and Theology in South Australia is a Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) theological college for the education and training of both lay people and those for specified ministries including the diaconate and youth ...

, Adelaide, a position he held until his death.

Late life

Bevan was a sufferer of diabetes and ultimately peripheral vascular disease and died on 19 July 1918, survived by his wife, three sons and four daughters.

References

External links

Bevan, Llewelyn David
entry at the Dictionary of Welsh Biography
Biographical cuttings on Llewelyn David Bevan
at National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Llewelyn David 1842 births 1918 deaths Welsh emigrants to colonial Australia Congregationalist religious workers Members of the London School Board People from Llanelli Australian book and manuscript collectors