His father, John Evans Q.C., Treasurer of the Inner Temple and a member of the House of Commons, died in 1864 when his son was only a few months old; he left his family £60,000.

George Essex Evans was raised and educated by his mother Mary Ann (née Owen), who was one of the Bowens of Llwynwair, an old Welsh family.

(John Bowen Owen), Blanche Gough and Beatrice emigrated to Queensland, Australia, travelling first class on a journey around the Cape of Good Hope that lasted 65 days.

Essex Evans, however, was badly injured in a horse riding accident, when he was thrown against a tree, and was unable to do any physical work.

[3] He represented Queensland in Rugby Union football, and also took part in athletic pursuits, competing in wrestling, running, and swimming.

[7][8] Essex Evans suffered from increasing deafness as he grew older, and this may be the reason why he was thought to be a secretive, quiet man.

Between 1892 and 1897 Essex Evans was associated with Banjo Paterson and John Tighe Ryan in the production of the periodical The Antipodean, which appeared three times.

Essex Evans won a reputation in his own state of Queensland as the author of patriotic verse, as in "Cymru", and his bush ballads, such as "The Women of the West", were popular.

[7] Essex Evans also wrote and produced some theatrical works for the Brisbane Theatre including Robinson Crusoe, a pantomime, and Musical Whist.

[16] Essex Evans was a great advocate for the construction of a new road northward across the Australia and after falling ill in 1909 he became the first passenger to be transported over it when taken to hospital.

[3] His funeral was held on 11 November 1909 at the St. James Church[13] and he was eulogized by Alfred Deakin with whom he shared a long correspondence[17] in Federal Parliament as 'Australia's Poet.

Australia will mourn the loss of her national poet whose patriotic songs stirred her people profoundly in the arduous campaign for union.

Many years after his death, on the anniversary of his birthday, large numbers of Toowoomba citizens would gather to pay homage to their great poet, in annual pilgrimages held at his monument in Webb Park.