Author: Du Val, John Edward
Biography:
by
Ragaz, Sharon (SR)
DU VAL, John Edward (1805-72: ancestry.co.uk)
Little is known about John Edward Du Val or Duval. The title page of The Patriot’s Love identifies him as the author of the anonymous The Battle of Navarine. If by this is meant The Battle of Navarine, Malta, and Other Poems, the author claims to be a naval officer who served under Sir Edward Codrington at the 1827 battle in the Greek war of independence. No evidence has yet been located for Du Val’s naval service. He was the son of Edward Octavius Duval (his surname is also given as Wall in the records) and his wife Sarah Eskildson; they had married at Drumcondra in Ireland on 19 Dec. 1803. John Edward was born at Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, and baptised on 6 Jan. 1805. In 1836, probably in Ireland, he married Eliza Ann Murray; they had two daughters and a son. Du Val, his wife, and children are identified in the 1851, 1861, and 1871 census records as living at 164 Monmouth Terrace, Rusholme, Manchester; his occupation is given as “Professor of Languages.” He died on 8 Aug. 1872 and was buried at Ardwick cemetery, Manchester. His wife died in 1898 in the Isle of Man; records identify her as the widowed spouse of John Edward Burghall Wall Du-Val. If he was the author of The Battle of Navarine, he would not have been encouraged by the harsh review in the Literary Gazette. (ancestry.co.uk 4 Aug. 2025; Literary Gazette 9 Aug. 1828) SR