Harry Evans came to Australia in 1882 and then won the World Billiard Championship three times. He started making billiard tables from 1895 in Elizabeth Street, before the business moved to 206 Gertrude Street in 1957. Third and fourth generations of the family are still there. (Sourced from the Fitzroy Historical Society, April 2005 Newsletter).
The fifth generation of Evans’ is now involved with the business. David (fourth generation), explained to a group of Fitzroy History Society members how a genuine billiard table is made. “The tables are made to order with the frame and legs made from either silky oak, Tasmanian Oak or New Zealand pine, and the slate for the table-top coming from Wales, Brazil or Queensland. David’s father, at 93 still applies the French Polish to the tables. The workshop is the set used in the ‘Jack Irish’ series of TV shows, partly because the machinery looks and is old.” (Fitzroy History Society Newsletter, July 2018)
