After Oxley's second expedition, his name appears to have been overshadowed by his official superior's.

Yet his work was invariably successful, and his labour in the field unremitting.
Evans was born in England, at Warwick, in 1778.

When a young man he went to the Cape of Good Hope, where he obtained an appointment in the dockyard, and while there he married his first wife, Janet Melvill.

In 1802 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General, and came to Australia in H.M.S.Buffalo, in order to take up his official duties.

It was while he held this post that he carried out his work of exploration.
When he returned from these explorations, he resumed his duties as Deputy Surveyor-General only, until he was permanently settled in Tasmania, where he remained in office until the year 1825, when he resigned in disgust at his treatment by his superiors.
Evans lived at a time when official jealousies were rife, and men in position often heedless of the justice or veracity of their statements when influenced by party rancour.