Background
Evans was born in Wales in 1739, and began his working life in London as a bookseller"s porter with a William Johnston of Ludgate Street.
Evans was born in Wales in 1739, and began his working life in London as a bookseller"s porter with a William Johnston of Ludgate Street.
He went on to become the publisher of the Morning Chronicle and the London Packet as well as taking over the bookselling business of Messrs. Hawes, Clarke, & Collins, based at northern 32 Paternoster Row. In 1773, nine days after the first performance of the play "She Stoops to Conquer", the London Packet published an article about the play’s author, Oliver Goldsmith, and a Mission Horneck, the so-called “Jessamy bride”.
Holding Evans responsible for the article, Goldsmith attacked him in the Paternoster Row shop.
Goldsmith was charged with assault, and ordered to pay £50 to a Welsh charity.