Born on 2 May 1844 in Dowlais in Glamorganshire, Evans worked as a coal miner from the age of eight.
[2] Ordained in 1871, his first ministry was in the city of St Davids, Pembrokeshire, relocating in 1876 to Aberdare where he became minister of Gadlys Chapel.
Evans was one of several Baptist ministers serving a working-class and largely Welsh speaking population.
His personal ministry was to the community living immediately adjacent to the Gadlys ironworks which had been established in 1827.
[1][3] Soon after his arrival in Aberdare, Evans became involved in public life and this often brought him into conflict with other leading figures such as the local miners' agent, David Morgan, with whom Evans had a feud over several years.