Lieut. J.C.B.L. Nevinson (4th Hussars)

A carte-de-visite portrait of Lieutenant John Nevinson (1838-1917) of the 4th Hussars.

Born in or about 1838, John Charles Barrett Lennard Nevinson was, according to a posting on rootsweb, the son of Julia Elizabeth Barrett-Lennard by an unknown father and was later adopted by her first husband, Charles Dalston Nevinson (1773-1846). His grandfather was Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard, 1st Bt.

He joined, by purchase, the 60th (The King’s Royal Rifle Corps) as an Ensign, on 24 July 1857. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant, again by purchase, on 16 December 1859. On 22 November 1862 he exchanged with Lieutenant C.M. Calderon of the 4th Hussars and his retirement was reported on 18 November 1865.

He appears on the 1881 census, aged 43, living at 129, Sloane Street, Chelsea. He gave London as his place as birth and for his profession he gave ‘Major Adjutant 2nd London Rifle Volunteers’. Also present on the night of the census were his wife Rosalie, born at Boulogne, and young daughters Rosalie and Juliana.

He appears on the 1891 census, a 53-year-old widower living at 14, Royal Avenue, Chelsea. He gave as his profession ‘Retired Adjutant Volunteer Major’. Also present on the night of the census were his daughter Juliana and two servants (a housekeeper and a cook).

He had one son, Lieut. Col. Thomas St. Aubyn Nevinson (1870-1951), who in 1916 married Miss Mary Natalie Wick of Ohio, a survivor of the Titanic.

According to a brief report in The Times (8 December 1892), he retired an Honorary Major and Adjutant from the 2d London (City of London Rifle Volunteer Brigade).

He died in 1917, aged 79.

Photographed by Camille Silvy on 26 December 1862.