Sydney Evans (priest)

Sydney Hall Evans, CBE (23 July 1915 – 6 January 1988) was the Dean of Salisbury in the Church of England from 1977[1] until his retirement in 1986.

Evans was born on 23 July 1915, and educated at Bristol Grammar School and Durham University,[2] where he was President of the Durham Union during Michaelmas term of 1937.[3]

Ordained to the priesthood in 1940, his first posts were curacies in Bishop Auckland and Ferryhill.[4] He was then a Chaplain in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from 1943 to 1945. Following this he was Warden of King's College London's post-graduate college at Warminster, and then from 1956 Dean of King's until 1977[5] and his elevation to the Deanery. He died on 6 January 1988.

Evans' career at King's made him one of the most influential churchmen of his generation; it is estimated that he trained over 1,000 priests. He was primarily a pastor and a nurturer of the potential he saw in people. He personally interviewed candidates for Theology at King's and made offers in advance of 'A'-level results. A low requirement, of perhaps only two 'A'-levels, would ensure than many men got the chance of a university education. The first year at King's was designed to sort 'the sheep from the goats', so that some would continue to the degree and ordination qualification combined (BD/AKC), with others pursuing the AKC alone for ordination.