Assistant Commissioner in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District Metropolitan Corps, 1897-1923. Honorary Associate in the Order of St John.
John MacLean Carvell was born on 20 August 1856, in Poplar, Middlesex (now Greater London), the son of John Carvell (b.circa 1823) and Elizabeth Carvell née Talbert (b.circa 1825). On 30 April 1858 he was baptised at St Anne's Church, Three Colt Street, Limehouse, Middlesex (now Greater London), where in the baptismal register his family are shown as living at 2 Canton Place, East India Road, Poplar and that his father was a master mariner.
In the 1861 census he is shown as John McL Carvell, aged 4 years and a scholar, living in the family home of his widowed maternal grandmother, Jane Dent Talbert née Metcalf (b.circa 1788), at 2 Canton Place, East India Road, Poplar, together with three unmarried aunts: Margaret Talbert (1819-1900); Jane Talbert (b.circa 1820) and Anne Talbert (b.circa 1825), his mother and his sister, Isabel Jane Carvell (1859-1887). His father was shown as away at sea.
He is recorded in the 1871 census as John Carvell, aged 14 and a scholar, residing at 53 East India Road, Poplar, the home of his unmarried aunt, Jane Talbert who was listed as an annuitant, together with his mother who was described as a governess, his sister who was also shown as a scholar, plus five male boarders and a female lodger.
He was still living at 53 East India Road, Poplar, at the time of the 1881 in which he is listed as John M. Carvell, aged 24 years and a medical student, together with his annuitant aunt, Jane Talbert and a female lodger.
On 31 December 1883 he qualified in London as a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (LSA) and his name was included on the Register of the General Medical Council.
Electoral registers from 1889 to 1895 list him at 208 Bow Common Lane, Mile End Old Town, London,
On 20 September 1890 he married Euphemia Sarah Avery (1857-1939) in St John the Evangelist's Church, Burgess Hill, Sussex, where in the marriage register he is shown as John MacLean Carvell of full age, a bachelor and a medical man living in Stepney whilst his wife was described as of full age and spinster residing in Burgess Hill, the daughter of Benjamin John Avery, a master mariner.
When the 1891 census was compiled he was shown as John Maclean Carvell, aged 34 years and a general practitioner, living at 208 Bow Common Lane, Mile End Old Town, with his wife, his mother-in-law - Euphemia Osborne née Avery, née Boyle (1828-1899), together with a female general domestic servant.
On 11 May 1892 he was initiated as a freemason in the Merchant Navy Lodge No.781 that met at the Silver Tavern, Burdett Road, Limehouse, London and he was shown in the register of the United Grand Lodge of England as a surgeon residing at 208 Bow Common Lane.
In 1896 he became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS).
The 1901 census shows him as John M. Carvell, aged 44 years and a surgeon M.R.C.S., living at 24 Queens Gardens, Brownhill Road, Catford, Lewisham, London, with his wife, two children: John Eric Maclean Carvell (1894-1978) and Doris Mia Carvell (b.1897), together with a nurse and a female general domestic servant. Electoral registers in 1901 and 1902 also confirm him living at this address.
On 6 November 1901 he joined the newly formed London Hospital Lodge No.2845 that met at the Albion Tavern, Aldersgate Street, London, giving his occupation as a physician living at 24 Queens Gardens, Catford.
Electoral registers in 1904 show him as a lodger renting 2 unfurnished ground floor rooms at 128 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, London, at 10 shillings per week from a Mrs Downer of the same address, but from 1905 to 1911 the registers show him listed at 17 Durham Terrace, Paddington, London.
When he completed his 1911 census return form he described himself as John MacLean Cavell, aged 54 years and a surgeon, living in an eleven roomed property at 17 Durham Terrace, South Paddington, London, with his wife, their daughter Doris Mia Carvell, together with a cook and housemaid. The form also shows that his wife had given birth to four children, but that only two were currently surviving.
Electoral registers from 1913 onwards show him registered at 31 Avonmore Road, West Kensington, London.
The Supplement to the London Gazette dated 30 March 1920 shows that he was made a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), for services to Ambulance Training and Organisation, London District, Order of St. John.
He died, aged 66 years, on 21 April 1923 and his death was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1923 in the Fulham Registration District, London. Probate records show that his address had been 32 Avonmore Road, West Kensington and that when administration with a will was granted on 22 June 1923 to his widow his effects totalled £9,035-4s-5d.
He is shown as 'CARVELL. J.MACLEAN MBE, MRCS, LSA, ASST.COMMISSIONER 1897-1923' on the St John Ambulance Brigade memorial plaque at St John's Cloister Garden, St John's Square, London, EC1.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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