Bevan, Edward, 1854-1898.

Edward Bevan was born in Bathwick, Somerset, England in 1854. He was the brother of New Guinea explorer Theodore Francis Bevan, and he was a surveyor, author, editor and painter who wrote and illustrated his own Victorian romances. Bevan studied art in Sydney, where he befriended Tom Roberts and Julian Ashton, and he exhibited his artworks at the Royal Art Society in Sydney from 1883. In the late 1870s, he came to Queensland to work as a surveyor. He commenced practice in Mackay then took up work as a licensed surveyor in Townsville ca. 1877.

By 1882, he was in partnership in Townsville as Waagepetersen and Bevan, architects, building engineers, licensed surveyors and agents. The partnership had been disbanded by 1884 and in that year he was apparently editor of the Northern Standard. From 1884 to 1891 he is also listed in Pugh's Almanac and other sources as an architect and surveyor. Along with fellow surveyor John Richardson and builders such as John Rooney and C A Ward, he may have had a hand in the design of several public buildings in Townsville. He was employed by the Townsville Municipal Council as Town Surveyor in 1885.

Bevan also worked for a time as editor of the Ilustrated Australian News. Bevan's work as an artist was an extension of his occupation as a surveyor. In 1886, he exhibited three paintings, a marine subject, an historical picture and a landscape at the Queensland National Association Exhibition in Brisbane. A description of these works appeared in the Brisbane Courier on Wednesday 25 August 1886. Edward Bevan died at Galston in New South Wales on 7 March 1898.

From the description of OM77-28 Edward Bevan Letter, 1879. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 755789218