EVANS OF EVANS BAY

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 175, 21 April 1937, Page 5

EVANS OF EVANS BAY

One of the Founders of Wellington

SCHOLAR AND LEGISLATOR

As a rule the average man does not worry much over the origin of placenames, yet a good deal of history is wrapped up in the knowledge as to how this or that place was named. One has only to take the map of New Zealand and trace its coastline names to see the amazing part played in the naming of places by Captain Cook, away back in the eighteenth century. ■Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Napier and Hastings, besides other places, were, of course, named after great men in English history, while many streets in 'Wellington took their names from the earlier of the New Zealand Company’s chartered ships, and people 'who came in them to found a new England under the Southern Cross. Only recently while yacht races were being held in Evans Bay, Wellington, one of those concerned idly expressed his curiosity to the writer as to how this fine stretch of harbour water found its name. Evans Bay was named after Dr. George Samuel Evans, doctor of laws, barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, journalist, legislator and scholar, who, during the short term he resided in Wellington, certainly made his presence felt. He had been called to the Bar in 1837. Why, two years later, he found himself a passenger on the ship Adelaide, bound to 'Wellington (before it was known as Wellington) cannot be explained, unless he had been seized with the spirit of adventure characteristic of many Englishmen of learning. With his 'wife and family Dr. Evans came to 'Wellington in the Adelaide, after which ship Adelaide Road takes its name, and landed at the place where Petone now stands. There Colonel William Wakefield had decided to pitch his colonising caravan, and to call the place, rather grandiloquently, Britannia. This decision was caused to be changed by abnormal floods which threatened the tents and cabins of the newcomers. The settlers became dissatisfied with the site, and advocated another at the southern end of the harbour. It is said that Dr. Evans was the man who suggested the removal to Thorndon flat and urged it with all the eloquence of a budding barrister-at-law. Colonists’ Council. During the early years the colonists

. appointed a council or committee as - their own Government, pending con- . stitutional development. Dr. Evans • was a member of that council. He 1 was even appointed to a judicial posi- • tion by that body, a judge who was , given the title of “Umpire.” He did ’ not last long in that exalted position. • In January, 1840, Captain Hobson, , who had been dispatched from Eng- . land, arrived in the Bay of Islands, • proclaimed the sovereignty of England • over the islands of New Zealand and made the .famous Treaty of Waitangi . with the Natives. , Then Captain Hobson’s deputy, Mr. ’ Willoughby Shortland, came to Wel- ■ lington, and, armed with full authority, . dissolved (he council and declared null and void all the acts of the colonists’ executive. Shortland was well received and was given the assurance that Hobson’s apprehension of high treason had no foundation in fact. Subsequently, at a public meeting, Dr. Evans advised the settlers to make the best of the new set of circumstances and cheerfully submit to the new form of government. As a matter of fact, it is on record that England h.ad no more loyal subject that Dr. Evans, whose admiration for the British Constitution knew no .bounds. Later on, Dr. Evans and Messrs. Hanson and Moring were sent to Sydney to interview Sir George Gipps, after whom Gippsland, Victoria, was named, then Governor of New South Wales (New Zealand then being a dependency of that State), on the land question. An acute question at the time was the matter of the acquisition of lands from the Maoris before the proclamation of the country as British territory. Large tracts of land had been “acquired” for a song. Legislation soon set this right. It is said that ;i Sydney barrister had acquired 2,000,000 acres of land. Charter for Wellington. It was Dr. Evans who led the way to , obtaining a charter for the city of Wellington in 1845. He remained in Wellington until 1853, when he went to Vic- ! toria and became editor of the “Her- ’ aid.” His style of writing was rather 5 heavy and ponderous, but he was a 1 . profound classicist, and his articles ] abounded in classical references. One 1 writer, J. L. Forde, in “The Story of ‘ the Victorian Bar,” said: “The doctor 1 possessed a profound veneration for the J British Constitution, and whatever the * subject of discussion, in Parliament or * on the platform, he nearly always s found an appropriate opportunity to c praise it. The British Constitution $ was ever in his heart and on hie lips. ? It was part of his own constitution. *- Evans was a man of the Dr. Johnson type, but his face was more like Bos- £ well’s, and his friends and associates * used to call him ‘Bozzy.” When Evans c heard this, he exclaimed: ‘Well, that’s a queer. When I had chambers in the e Temple, in London, I was called “the doctor,” in allusion to Boswell’s A master.’ ” t He wrote and read Greek and Latin in the original and was well versed in S Sanskrit. In Victoria he became a s member of the Legislative Assembly a and was Minister of Lands and Post- 0 master-General in the second O’Shan- a nesy Government of 1858-59 and was a Postmaster - General in the third J 1 O’Shannesy Cabinet of 18G1-63. Dr. ° Evans died in 18GS. Mr. Hanson, who journeyed to Syd- a ney with Dr. Evans on land matters, " was the man after whom Hanson P 1 Street, Wellington, was named. Han- K 1 son, too, left New Zealand for Austra- t' lia. He settled in South Australia, be- w came Premier in due course, and afterward Chief Justice. When on the Bench he was knighted. He died in 187 G.