This afternoon I had the great pleasure of joining John Robbings Evans at Saxon Court in Bicester to celebrate his hundredth birthday. Attending as a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, I presented him with his birthday card from Their Majesties The King and Queen; a lovely duty, made all the more enjoyable by meeting John and the family and friends gathered around him.
John turns 100 today, 31 October 2026. He has fitted a good deal into that century, including prize-winning singing, steam engines, a tandem honeymoon, a move to Australia and a voyage home with the Bee Gees. There was plenty to talk about.
Born into a Welsh-speaking family in the South Wales valleys, John grew up surrounded by music. His mother was a seamstress who sang and played the piano whenever she could; her five children became known locally as the Welsh “Von Trapps”. As a boy soprano, John won honours at national Eisteddfodau, and during the Second World War the family entertained troops spending time in their village.
Still a teenager, he left Wales to work in Didcot and then London, stoking coal on steam engines and helping keep the railway running during the war. In 1947, at a church dance in West London, he spotted his opportunity during an “excuse me” dance and met Mavis. They married in September 1950; that well-judged interruption led to 66 years of marriage.
Their honeymoon was a 270-mile tandem round trip from London to Sherborne in Dorset, undertaken without so much as a puncture repair kit. We chatted this afternoon about cycling around the Home Counties, though I suspect John’s approach to a long ride involved rather less preparation, and considerably more pedalling, than mine would.
In 1965, John and Mavis took their children, Alison and Gary, to Adelaide as “Ten Pound Poms”. As someone with both British and Australian nationality, I particularly enjoyed comparing notes about Australia. Their journey took three weeks by sea, through the Suez Canal and onwards to a new life; while there, John won a national singing competition on Radio Australia with Spring Fever.
Homesickness brought the family back the following year. On the return voyage they got to know a young group of entertainers working their passage to Britain: the Bee Gees. Most of us come home from a trip with a few photographs and an overdue washing pile; John came back with a rather better story.
Back in Oxfordshire, he spent many years in quality control on the Minis manufactured by British Leyland in Oxford. We also talked about his post-retirement job as caretaker at North Kidlington Primary School, where he was much loved by pupils and teachers. He eventually retired from that role in his early seventies.
Travel remained a great pleasure for John and Mavis, particularly camping and caravanning in France. My favourite family story involves the pair getting out their camping chairs and Primus stove to make a cup of tea while parked on the Pont Neuf in Paris, to the consternation of the locals. The French had their café culture; John and Mavis brought their own.
This afternoon, his family joined friends, residents and staff at Saxon Court to celebrate. The warmth of that gathering was evident; the people who live and work there have become an extended family too.
It was a privilege to meet John and his family, to hear some of his stories and to raise a glass to a remarkable hundred years. Very many happy returns, John, and thank you for letting me share your day.
