Capel Curig grave Evan Roberts

EGrave of Evan Robertsvan Roberts (d.1991)

Evan Roberts was born in 1906 in Capel Curig. Aged 14, he began to work in the slate quarry on Moel Siabod, mainly because he wanted to copy his father, his role model. While working there, his interest in the Alpine flora of Snowdonia began to develop. He sometimes guided visitors around the Capel Curig area, and became friendly with a botanist who gave him books.

Photo of Evan RobertsThe quarry closed in the early 1950s. At a loose end, Evan climbed Moel Siabod and spotted a small purple flower, later identified as purple saxifrage. He became an authority in the botany of Snowdonia, perhaps inspired by the fern collection of his late grandfather (whom he never met).

Evan’s daughter Glenys died in February 1947, aged 17 (although the gravestone records that she was 16). She suffered an epileptic fit at the family home during one of Britain’s hardest winters in living memory, when large snowdrifts left many rural communities isolated. No doctor could reach Glenys at the family home in Capel Curig, and she passed away.

Evan’s wife Mabel died in 1968. He himself lived on until 1991. Also commemorated on the family gravestone is Evan’s son Meurig, who died in 1995.

Return to Churchyard page