John Evans
b. 1846 · Welsh
Biography
John Evans was the intellectual and business partner in the New York piano firm of Newby & Evans, credited with much of its success. Born in Wales in 1846 to a good Welsh family, he received a first-class education and initially entered banking, holding a position for five years at the National Provincial Bank of England, an institution he notes was difficult to enter and open only to members of good families. He arrived in New York in 1868 and turned to journalism, succeeding both as a writer and publisher, before joining Alfred J. Newby in 1884 to found Newby & Evans. Under the partners the firm expanded rapidly, building a factory with a capacity of forty instruments per week by 1888.
Highlights
- Former banker at England's National Provincial Bank
- Career as a journalist and publisher in New York before entering the piano trade
- Co-founded Newby & Evans in 1884
Source
Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 291, 292.
Public domain.