William
Evans
Founded in London in 1883 after William Evans learned his trade with James Purdey and Holland & Holland, the house developed a distinctive reputation for well-made sporting guns, rifles and a practical approach to serving generations of sportsmen.
A tradition shaped by
experience, access and craftsmanship.
William Evans entered the London trade with first-hand experience of two of its most famous houses. Before establishing his own business, he worked for James Purdey and later H. J. Holland and Holland & Holland.
When he opened his own premises in 1883, Evans offered a broad range of sporting guns and rifles rather than limiting the business to a single pattern or price level. That combination of quality, practicality and personal service became part of the firm’s identity.
William Evans and the making of a London gunmaker.
Before setting out on his own, William Evans worked for James Purdey and then for H. J. Holland, remaining through the period in which that business became Holland & Holland. The experience placed him inside the culture and methods of London’s established gun trade.
In 1883 he opened his own establishment at 95a Buckingham Palace Road. Early guns were marked “William Evans (From Purdey’s),” an explicit connection to the training and standards that had shaped his career.
A broad approach to the sporting trade.
Evans established his company at a time when the breech-loader was already transforming sporting gunmaking. Rather than concentrating solely on a narrow range of “Best” guns, the firm offered different grades and types of sporting gun and rifle to suit a wider clientele.
Surviving catalogues and advertisements show a business equally at home promoting sporting shotguns, double rifles and specialist rifles for use abroad — evidence of the international sporting culture that surrounded late Victorian and Edwardian London.
From Buckingham Palace Road to Bisley.
Selected moments in the history of William Evans and its place in the London sporting trade.
A London address with sporting connections.
Pall Mall placed William Evans close to the Guards’ barracks and the gentlemen’s clubs that formed an important part of London’s sporting world. Officers preparing for overseas postings became an important part of the firm’s early clientele.
The company’s history also records important sporting patrons, including the Duke of Connaught and the Maharaja of Kota. Such relationships helped carry the William Evans name far beyond London.
- 63 Pall Mall · London
- Appointment to the Duke of Connaught
- Military & Sporting Clientele
- Guns & Rifles for Use at Home and Abroad
A London name carried into a new chapter.
William Evans built its identity differently from some of the older London houses. Its founder brought experience from Purdey and Holland & Holland, but established a business noted for offering a wide range of well-made sporting arms and for maintaining close relationships with its customers.
The loss of the Pall Mall premises in 1944 forced a move to St James’s Street, where the company remained for more than eight decades. In 2026 that London chapter closed and the business consolidated at Bisley, continuing a history that began in the capital in 1883.
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