Place Name
Henry Melvill (September 14, 1798 – February 9, 1871) was Rector of Barnes between 1863 and 1870. He afterwards served as Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral. The son of Philip Melvill, an army officer, who was lieutenant-governor of Pendennis Castle, he was appointed by the Duke of Wellington to chaplain to the Tower of London in 1840. After that he became principal of the East India Company College, Haileybury. After the college was closed in January 1858, he held several other prominent posts, including as a chaplain to Queen Victoria, before being made rector of Barnes. For many years he had the reputation of being “the most popular preacher in London”, and one of the greatest rhetoricians of his time with many of his sermons published. This road was Laid out in 1906.
