Evan Jones (5 September 1820 – 23 February 1852), also known by his bardic name Ieuan Gwynedd, was an independent minister and journalist. Jones is chiefly remembered for his defence of women following the damning insinuations made in the Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the state of education in Wales, commonly known as the Treason of the Blue Books in Wales. He edited several papers in London and in Wales but it his work on Y Gymraes (The Welshwoman), which has made him of particular interest to Welsh historians. Early life Jones was born in the Dolgellau area in 1820, one of the six children of Evan and Catherine Jones. In 1824 the family moved to Bontnewydd in Gwynedd, but his poor health as a child resulted in an erratic education, with Jones attending a variety of schools. In 1836 he was given a job at a bank in his home town, but he was let go that same year. That same year he made several attempts to open schools in the area, including Brithdir, Pen-y-Bont and Llanwddyn, but failed on every occasion due to a lack of local support. Ministry work On the 18 March 1838 Jones first addressed the congregation of Sardis chapel in Llanwddyn. The following year he took up a teaching job working as assistant master at Daniel Williams school in Bangor. He left the post just six months later and became a student of Reverend J. Jones at his school in Marton, Shropshire. When Jones died in 1840, Evans took over his ministerial role at the local village church, continuing his schooling with the Reverend T. Jones of Minsterley. On completing his schooling in 1841 he was accepted to Brecon College where he spent the next four years. After leaving the college he was ordained the minister of Saron Independent Chapel in Tredegar. Four months after taken up his ministry, In November 1945, he married Catherine, daughter of John Sankey of Rorrington Hall in Morton. Their union was short-lived, the only child of their marriage died in infancy and Catherine died on 25 April 1847. Jones' continuing ill-health impacted on his career when he was unable to continue his ministry of the Tredegar parish leaving the post at the end of 1847. During this period he was approached to take up the position of secretary of the National Temperance Association but he turned