Esther Lewis

Esther Lewis (1887 – 4 November 1958), born Esther Evans, was a Welsh educator and Presbyterian missionary in India and Bangladesh.

For the English poet, see Esther Lewis (poet).
Esther Lewis
Born
Esther Evans

1887
Efail-y-Banc, Rhydargaeau, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Died4 November 1958
Carmarthen
NationalityWelsh
Other namesHetty Evans
OccupationMissionary

Early life

Esther (or Hetty) Evans was born Efail-y-Banc, Rhydargaeau, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Her father was a blacksmith. She trained as a teacher in Carmarthen, and taught at Penygroes School near Ammanford before she was called to mission work in 1914.[1]

Career

Evans served as a Presbyterian missionary[2] at Sonapur and Karimganj in Assam, India.[3] She was a teacher to women living in zenana. In 1925 she was appointed headmistress of the school at Karimganj, succeeding Dilys Edmunds. When the school was closed in 1935, she continued in Karimganj as a missionary, working with Jane Helen Rowlands[4] to run Dipti Nibash, a refuge home for widows and orphans.[1][4]

In widowhood in the 1940s, she volunteered again for mission work, and taught women in Sylhet.[1]

Personal life

Hetty Evans married David John Lewis in early 1945, in Cymer Afan, while she was on furlough in Wales. She was widowed eight months later, when Lewis died. She died in 1958, in Wales, aged 71 years.[1]

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References
  1. Rees, D. Ben (2002). Vehicles of Grace and Hope: Welsh Missionaries in India 1800-1970. William Carey Library. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-87808-505-7. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  2. Kanti, Sinha Amal (September 2013). "The activities of Welsh Presbyterian Mission in Barak Valley" (PDF). International Research Journal of Social Sciences. 2: 21.
  3. "Syniad Indiad am yr Eglwys". Y Cyfaill o'r hen Wlad yn America (in Welsh). 78: 219–220. 1915.
  4. Bhattacharjee, Nabanipa (2014-10-04). "Jane Helen Rowlands: Portraits of a Welsh-Bengali Life". Northeast Review. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
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