Ernest Hollyer Evans [also known as E. Hollyer Evans] was born in England on 20 December 1875 and was articled to Alfred Eustace Habershon (1866-1956) in London in 1892-95, and to Ernest George (1839-1922) and Alfred Bowman Yeates of George & Yeates in London in 1895-97. He then remained as clerk of works. Evans attended Stroud School of Art, Brinscombe Polytechnic and the Architectural Association Schools in London and won the AA Travelling Studentship. He also worked as assistant to Frank Thomas Baggallay (1855-1930) in 1898 and Alfred Saxon Snell (1860-1949) in 1899. Later that year Evans set up his own independent practice in London. He was briefly in partnership with T. Neatley in 1899-1900. In 1900, with William James Neatby (1860-1910), he established Neatby, Evans & Company [also known as Neatby & Evans], a firm based in London that manufactured furniture, art metalwork and stained glass. The partnership was dissolved in c.1908.
Evans's works included the entrance lodge and gates to Burleigh Court in Stroud, Gloucestershire; alterations to 'Brimscombe' in Gloucestershire; 'Heathfield' near Stroud, Gloucestershire; 'Fircroft' in Amberley, Stroud, Gloucestershire; a house on Rodborough Common in Stroud, Gloucestershire; and ''Bestbury Cottage' in Minchinhapton, Gloucestershire; 'Foxley's in Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire; a group of cottages in Essex; alterations to All Souls' rectory in Devonshire Street, London; and estate work at West Mersea, Essex, and Sittingbourne, Kent. A sketch of a fireplace designed by E. Hollyer Evans, architect, featuring a panel painted by W.J. Neatby is illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1907 (opposite p.106).
Evans also taught at the Architectural Association in London. He was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1925. He exhibited one work at the Royal Academy in London in 1898.
Evans's addresses were given as 15 Bloomsbury Street, London (1898); 32 Craven Street, Strand, London (1912, 1914); 9 Gower Street, Bedford Square, London (1926); and 4 Bedford Square, London (1939) He died in Weymouth, Dorset in 1953.
In Gloucestershire: — Entrance Lodge and Gates, Burleigh Court, Stroud; alterations and additions, "Woodside." Brimscombe; "Heathfield", near Stroud; "Fircroft", Araberley, Stroud; houses on Rodborough Common, Stroud; and " Bestbury Cottage", Minchinhampton. "Foxby, Bishop's Stortford, Herts; group of cottages, Rainham, Essex; alterations to Ail Souls' Rectory, Devonshire Street, W.: estate work at West Mersea, Essex, and at Sittingbourne, Kent. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1926]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 185, 14 August 1953 p. 250
Who's Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London The Architectural Press, 1926