The Evans Memorial, 210m west of Church of St. Helen is one of very few listed buildings in the Greater Eston area. It is listed as grade II
Memorial to Jane and David Evans. They died respectively in 1902 and 1905. The memorial consists of an Ionic, marble column supported by a plain, square pedestal and base, flanked by benches with curved ends. The column has husk garlands under the capital, and a carving in relief of a mourning female figure. The back-rests of benches have moulded copings, terminating in draped scrolled consoles. The epitaphs are inscribed on the pedestal and base.
The epitaph is as follows: –
“Jane Evans 1844 – 1902
In loving memory of Jane Evans wife of David Evans of Cleveland House, Grangetown, and Cliffden, Saltburn by the Sea. Born 3rd January 1844 Died 18th September 1902
‘SHE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD’
Also of the above David Evans born 17th October 1839
Died 8th August 1905″
David Evans, J.P. managed Messrs Bolckow, Vaughan & Co’s ironstone mines and iron and steelworks from 1891 until illness caused him to resign in 1904. Born in Aberdare, Glamorganshire, he spent his life working in the iron and steel industry in Wales and on Teesside. He and his wife Jane lived at Cleveland House in Grangetown and at Cliffden, Saltburn.
Newspaper articles record that Jane Evans was a leading figure in the local community and was very active in the welfare of local residents.
During 1896 the latest steam Fire Engine in Eston was named after her.
Around 1900 she hosted New Year’s celebrations for OAP’s
As well as this memorial in the churchyard, a stained glass window in Grangetown was dedicated to Jane . Sadly the church was demolished many years ago.
David Evans 1905 Obituary : Iron and Steel Institute
DAVID EVANS died on August 8, 1905, at his residence at Saltburn-by-the-Sea, at the age of sixty-four, after a long illness. He occupied a prominent position in the metallurgical industries of the North of England, and was generally recognised as a leading authority in the trade. He was born at Aberdare, Glamorganshire, in 1841, his father having been manager of the Aberdare ironworks. In 1866, when in his twenty-fifth year, he succeeded his father as blast-furnace manager, and in 1870 he became manager of the blast-furnaces, forges, and mills at Rhymney, Mon., where he remained until 1875.
He was then appointed works manager of the Ebbw Vale Iron and Steel Company’s establishment, which included blast-furnaces and rolling-mills. In 1878 he returned to Rhymney, and occupied the post of resident manager for seven years, when in 1885 he was appointed general manager of the Barrow Haematite Iron and Steel Company. In 1891 the directors of Bolckow, Vaughan & Co. offered him the general managership of their works, which he accepted, and for thirteen years he occupied that post, until ill-health compelled him to relinquish the position in October 1904. He had the oversight of ironstone mines producing over 2,000,000 tons of Cleveland ironstone per annum; twenty-five blast-furnaces, making nearly 750,000 tons of Cleveland basic, haematite, and spiegel iron per year; steel works making 1000 tons of finished steel per day in the form of rails, sleepers, plates, &c.; nineteen collieries raising about 2,000,000 tons of coal per annum; coking plant, limestone quarries, engineering shops, foundries, &c., and a force of over 13,500 men at its various mines and works. Under his management the concern was very successfully carried on.
In addition to his duties as general manager of the firm of Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., he occupied several public and private offices, being chairman of the Eston Urban District Council, a member of the Tees Port Sanitary Authority, a member of the Tees Conservancy Commission, and a Justice of the Peace for Monmouthshire and for the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was a past-president of the Cleveland Ironmasters’ Association, a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and of the Institution of Naval Architects, a member of the Council of the British Iron Trade Association, a vice-president of the Cleveland Institution of Engineers, and a member of the American Institute of Civil Engineers. During the whole of his thirteen years’ management of Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan and Co.’s works and mines it is noteworthy that not a single strike occurred, which is a testimony to the high esteem in which he was held by the whole of his workmen. He was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1873, and became a member of Council in 1893. He acted as representative of the Institute on the Committee of Lloyd’s Registry of Shipping.
The Evans Memorial became damaged and dirty and required Listed Building Consent before repairs could be carried out.
Tees Heritage Trust was able to assist with the creation of a 3D model of the monument via photogrammetry and creation of scale drawings from the 3D model required for listed building consent.
