 On his father's side, Evatt was descended from an Anglo-Irish family with a history of military service – his paternal grandfather was Captain George Evatt of the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot, while an uncle was Major-General Sir George Evatt.His father was born in Cawnpore (now Kanpur), India, but grew up in Dublin, Ireland.He arrived in Australia at the age of 16, and eventually settled in Morpeth, where in 1882 he married Jeanie Gray, the daughter of a marine engineer from Sydney.