A new book giving veterinarian, pioneer parasitologist and adventurer Griffith Evans (1835-1935) his rightful place in history as one of Wales’ foremost scientists will be launched at Storiel, Bangor on 5 June.
In 1880 during his time as an army veterinary surgeon in India, Griffith Evans made the seminal discovery that blood parasites – then universally considered benign – were pathogenic. Spurned by peers and colleagues, his conclusions from experiments with diseased horses were acknowledged by founders of modern bacteriology Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, but it took many years before his achievement received general recognition.
The book’s author is Gavin Gatehouse, a retired Senior Lecturer in Applied Entomology and Parasitology and past Head of the School of Biological Sciences at Bangor University and is part of University of Wales Press’ Scientists of Wales series.
The son of a farmer near Tywyn, Meirionnydd who went on to see the world, Griffith Evans eventually returned to north Wales, creating strong ties with the University and city of Bangor during his long and productive retirement.
After growing up in Meirionnydd, Evans was commissioned as a veterinary officer in the Royal Artillery. He was first posted to Canada where, in his spare time, he qualified in medicine. An irrepressible adventurer, he visited North America during the Civil War, meeting Abraham Lincoln and touring the Union front line. Evans’s talent for engaging with people and cultures characterised his world-touring career.
After the 55-year-old Griffith Evans retired in 1890, he bought a house in Bangor, Brynkynallt on Lôn Pobty, so as to be close to the University College that had been established in 1884. He soon developed connections with the College, particularly staff in the Department of Agriculture, and was persuaded to lecture to students in the department for twenty years as an ‘Instructor in Veterinary Hygiene’. He was also a member of the University College’s Court and was generous in his contributions to the College.
Outside the College, Evans was influential through his connections with Bangor’s various societies and organisations and was highly respected by the city’s residents. He was a keen chapel-goer, and fervently supported Liberalism: Lloyd George often stayed overnight in Brynkynallt during his visits to Bangor.
In 1931, at the age of 96, representatives of Bangor City Council visited Griffith Evans in his bed in Brynkynallt to present to him the Freedom of the City of Bangor, an honour that he treasured. He died in 1935, following his 100th birthday.
Gareth Ffowc Roberts, Chair of the editorial panel for the series Scientists of Wales and Emeritus Professor at Bangor University remarked:
This new book about the remarkable scientist Griffith Evans reads like a novel. Evans was a vet who specialised in bacterial diseases, particularly those that killed horses. His vision was to follow the science, thereby discovering how to treat the condition, much to the astonishment of other veterinarians, many of them rejecting his work. Evans kept to his principles, come what may. Since his death his name has faded into obscurity, but Gavin Gatehouse’s book is an opportunity to resurrect it, and the full story is inspirational
The book will be formally launched by the University of Wales Press at 3pm Wednesday 5 June at Storiel Bangor. All are welcome to attend.
This book is one of a series of nine featuring the scientists of Wales, which also includes Robert Recorde, tudor scholar and mathematician, William Robert Grove, Victorian gentleman of science, Edward Lhwyd naturalist, antiquary and philologist, Evan James Williams atomic physicist, William Morgan eighteenth-century actuary, mathematician and radical and Griffith Davies, innovator and benefactor.