Hon. OW & Staff Member 1956-1972
We have been notified of the sad death of Janet Evans who passed away peacefully on 3rd October 2024, aged 95. Janet is survived by her two daughters, Ginny and Nancy. Our thoughts and best wishes are with them.
Janet was a part of the life of many Old Wycliffians from 1956 to 1972 when, as wife of Tony Evans, Housemaster at Merton Lodge and Windrush in the Prep School, she cared for and nurtured the young boys boarding there. She continued to be involved as a relief Matron for about another 15 years and sang with Wycliffe Choral Society.
The following eulogy has been sent to us by Janet’s daughter, Ginny Young:
We are fortunate that Janet wrote her memoirs in her latter years and recalled very clearly her life as a child and young woman. We have used this to summarise her life story here.
Janet first met her husband Anthony James Evans when he came home from boarding school and played the part of Prince Charming in the Methodist youth club production of Cinderella produced by his father Herbert – the youth club leader. Janet was taken to watch this by her friend Sheila who had joined the club sometime before. Janet had attended the Sunday School as a young child but her membership lapsed during the war when she went on Sundays to a Girls crusader class with some local friends. The attraction being ther was a boys class as well that met in a different place but often had social activities together. Janet and Tony were ‘members of the gang’ for a number of years although they corresponded on a failry regular basis including during his National Service in the RAF on the Berlin Airlift which lasted nearly 2 years. Their first date was in October 1948 when she was invited to go to a Royal Choral Society Concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Tony and his mother whilst he was home on leave. He gave her a gift of a hot water bottle in the shape of a cat which she treasured and provided comfort to her in the cold winter weather.
In 1951, Janet and her friend went on a big cycling adventure, staying in youth hostels along the way and they came all the way to Mitcheldean before she had any connection to Gloucestershire!
Janet and Tony married at Bushey and Oxhey Methodist church on 31st July 1954 with her cousin Paddy – Caroline’s mother as her bridesmaid and Tony’s school friend Maurice as best man. Her brother Peter gave her away. They went by train to Bournemouth on honeymoon before making their home in Stonehouse ahead of the new school term with Tony teaching at Wycliffe and Janet as Assistant Matron at the Grove. She joined Stroud Choral society and would remain a member for the next 25 years. Their daughter Nancy was born in July 1955 and they arrived home from Stroud maternity hospital to Pearcroft Road in time for their first anniversary. When Nancy was a year old Tony was asked to become Housemaster of a boarding house for 16 young Wycliffe boys (aged 7-10) called Merton Lodge with Janet’s assistance. Little did she know how busy life was to become for the next 16 years! A year later Catherine Wysehall arrived to be matron and would become our much loved ‘Auntie Kate’. Virginia (Ginny) was born in August 1958. Janet recalled life settling into a routine ruled by the clock and school bells. Evenings were fun with the two girls bathed early and in their dressing gowns they would talk to the boys during their bath time in return for playing with their bath toys whilst Janet helped scrub a particularly dirty neck or muddy feet. Whilst Tony had his meals with the boys, they had family tea together on a Tuesday as this was his free afternoon.
Janet enjoyed learning to drive in 1960 in a Triumph Herald having booked 10 lessons and her test for £18. The girls went to Kings Stanley school and when the Wright family moved in to a house opposite, Lilian and Janet shared the school run. Lilian and Janet were both members of this church and founded the WVS meals on wheels service, were members of Stonehouse Townswoman’s guild and its choir and Janet became secretary of the young wives group which met here in 1957 and continued in that role for 20 or so years – long past being a young wife!
In 1967 Janet and Tony moved to Windrush with the girls and Janet and her helpers did all the cooking for 25 boys plus staff on the lovely Aga and used the potato peeling machine. A year long basic cookery course she had done outside of work in 1952/53 probably came in very handy! Janet started helping with the brownies and became a warranted Brownie guider. In later years she held a girl guide warrant and a ranger guider warrant for a short while, retiring in 1974 before becoming district badge secretary and then serving on the committee for friends of guiding in Stonehouse.
In 1972 Tony and Janet moved to their first proper home in Melbourne Drive, here in Stonehouse. During this time, Janet worked 1 day a week plus extra as needed as assistant matron at Windrush and helped with the cooking when the cooks had their days off. These extra funds helped towards the girls weddings in 1978 and 1984.
If you would like to have your memories of Janet posted on this webpage, please feel free to email them to TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
I was sad to hear of the passing of Janet Evans. When I was Housemaster in Windrush boarding house she was a relief matron every Wednesday evening. My son Simon was about 3 years old at the time and Janet was wonderful with him. She read him stories and even knitted him toys. They had a good rapport and he remembers her with great fondness.
– Denis Fisher (Hon. OW and Staff Member 1972-2009)
I remember Mrs Evans very well from my three years as a boarder at Merton Lodge, Autumn 1958 – Summer 1961. Also her older daughter Nancy, who was only a year younger then me and would join in with the boys playing French Cricket on the lawn. Virginia was then a new-born baby.
The Evans family had their own family area upstairs which the boys did not routinely access, but on two regular occasions we did. One was Sunday evening hymn singing, led by Mr Evans, all of us crammed into their living room as he played the piano and led the singling lustily. I don’t recall whether Mrs Evans or her girls were usually present on these evening sessions but I expect they were.
But the other occasion was entirely run by Mrs Evans, and that was boys’ bath time.
We boys has a downstairs area for toilet and shower, which got us by for a while, but every boy also had to take a bath every so often, and there was but a single bath in the Lodge, in the Evans’ bathroom. I remember each boy had a strict time limit enforced by Mrs Evans and had to scrub himself rapidly to pass muster. Also occasionally one or other Evans girl would forget that it was boys time and come in, only to be rapidly hauled out again by adult hand.
– John Lumby (J S 1958-1968)
