Evans, General Sir Horace Moule KCB (1841 to 1923)
General Sir Horace Moule Evans KCB 1841 – 1923 – 6 Vermont Road 1901 -1914
Son of Frederick Mullett Evans who was a partner in Bradbury and Evans, printers and publishers of “Punch”, of William Makepeace Thackeray and of Charles Dickens*. He was brother in law to Charles Dickens’ eldest son, Charles Culliford Boz Dickens – the author had refused to turn up to his son’s wedding as he had a row with his publisher about what was not written about his divorce.
As a junior officer Evans served in the 104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) and then became Deputy Assistant Adjutant General of the Bengal Army. He went on to be General Officer Commanding Allahabad District in India in 1895 and General Officer Commanding Rohilcund District in 1896. He was honorary Colonel of the 2nd batallion, 8 Gurkha Rifles. According to “The Times” obituary, he had a long and distinguished career with the Army. He served with the Duffla expedition of 1874-5, being mentioned in dispatches, and with the Nagas Hills expedition of 1879-80, taking part in the action of Konoma, and receiving a mention in dispatches, the medal with clasp, and promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel. He also accompanied the expedition to Manipur in 1891. He was promoted to full general on his retirement in November 1901. He was made a C.B. in 1894 and appointed Knight Commander of the order of the Bath (KCB) in 1911.
His son Brigadier William Harry Evans C.S.I, C.I.E. and D.S.O had a successful army career, retiring in 1931. He was also a lepidopterist and documented the butterfly fauna of India, Burma and Ceylon in a series of articles in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, recording approximately 1,439 different species.
He was particularly interested in the butterfly families Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae and examined over half a million specimens of Hesperiidae in the Natural History Museum, producing a number of catalogues that were published by the Museum. In the late 1950’s, he revised the New World fauna of skipper butterflies (Evans 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955), based on specimens in the Natural History Museum. In his third volume (1953), Evans reviewed the genus Cogia– with twelve species known at the time, including a new species from Guatemala. The collection of William Harry Evans is in the Natural History Museum, London.
https://lepscience.com/2015/03/31/meet-cogia-buena-the-good-cogia-2/
His only son, Dr. J. W. Evans, continued in Entomology as a Director of the Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia.
*In 1901 Sir Horace’s neighbour at 1 Vermont Road was John James Towgood. He was the great nephew of the poet Samuel Rogers, who had been a friend and patron of Charles Dickens and whose poetry had also been printed by Bradbury and Evans. “The Old Curiosity Shop” was dedicated to Samuel Rogers and he was said to been the basis for “Grandfather Smallweed” in “Bleak House”.