Dorothy Evans was the widow of Rev. John Evans of Cradock. Shortly after her husband's death and the proclamation of the town of Somerset East in 1825, she settled in Somerset. She passed away in 1842 and is buried in the old graveyard behind the Somerset East Museum.

 

In her will, Dorothy Evans bequeathed to the London Missionary Society "... her house and her erf in Pullet Street..." In December 1842 the Superintendent of the Society's Mission in South Africa applied to the Governor "for an allowance of twenty pounds per annum for the teacher of Coloured classes in Somerset". This was granted. A minister was sent to South Africa and shortly after in 1844, a church for the Coloured Dutch-speaking Congregation was erected on Dorothy Evans' erf. The London Missionary Society later became part of the Congregational Church.