1900 May 31. born the youngest son of Arthur Walter Jarvis Esq of Hampstead and Mrs Nellie Jarvis (Nee – Matthews).
1901 census at 899 Fordwych Rd, Hampstead
1911 census at
He was educated at Marlborough and the Royal Military College Sandhurst
1919 Jul 16. commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
1919 Sep. Sent to Ireland and was posted as an intelligence officer with the 52nd Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, initially in Cork but the regiment was redeployed at Limerick
1920 Jan 17. Regiment moves to Limerick.where he was stationed at the Strand Barracks . He was responsible for the regiments intelligence work in counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary. Jarvis's persona; intelligence dossier is prefaced with a sea shanty and he lists himself amongst the I.R.A. suspects in his intelligence dossier as “JARVIS, John Basil, Strand Barrack’s Limerick ‘a great ruffian capable of doing anybody or anything, rides an antiquated Douglas motor cycle.’ ”
Jarvis’s intelligence notebook / dossier is currently kept by The Soldiers Of Oxfordshire Trust Archive at Bicester. Reference No. 3/7/A/1
And Private Papers of Lt Col J B Jarvis at IWM.
1921 Feb 22. The bodies of three British soldiers were discovered by a farmer on the Woodford to Cahir road near the shores of Lough Attorick at Poolagoond near the Clare – Galway county border. The three soldiers had been executed by the I.R.A.’s East Clare Brigade, each been shot in the head. One of them had a label hung around his neck which read “Spies. Tried by courtmartial and found guilty. All others beware.” All three were members of ‘B’ Company, 1st Battalion the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry stationed at the Strand Barracks in Limerick City. The British said that the three were deserters from the British army who were “murdered by rebels”. The IRA had condemned them as spies posing as deserters. On balance the probability is that they were on an intelligence gather operation and therefore being controled by Jarvis
1921 Jul 16 Promoted Lt
1922 MAr 21. Ox & Bucks withdraws from Limerick
1927 Sep 27 He is a Lt stationed a Parkhurst, and gives evidence in a motoring case as a witness
1931 May 1. Ox & Bucks LI . Capt. J. B. Jarvis to be Adjt., vice Capt. K. H. Doyne
1932 Won the Army Hammer Throwing championship
1934 Oct 11. Ox & Bucks LI. Capt. J. B. Jarvis is restd. to the estabt.
1940 Apr/Jun Married Dorothy P Tower
1943 Jul 2. Ox & Bucks LI . Maj. J. B. Jarvis (18591) to be Lt.-Col.
1946 Jul 2. Oxf. & Bucks. L.I.. Lt.-Col. J. B. JARVIS (18591) on completion of period of service in command remains on full pay(supern.),
1948 May 31. Oxf. & Bucks. L.I.. Lt.-Col. J. B. JARVIS (18591) retires on ret. pay,
1948 Jul 14 Lieut.-Col. John Basil Jarvis (retired), of Dickinson Road. Rusholme, Manchester, was granted a decree nisi at Manchester Divorce Court to-day based on the desertion of his wife, Mrs. Dorothy P. Jarvis, who was stated to be 10 years younger than him
John Basil Jarvis enjoyed much longer, and successful service, first in Ireland and then India. He eventually became a Lt Col
1955 May 31. REGULAR ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS.Lt.-Col. J. B. JARVIS (18591) having attained the age limit of liability to recall ceases to belong to the Res. of Offrs.,
After retirement he lived at The Elms, his mother's old ouse, and became Mayor of Southwold in 1963.
1979 Dec 22 Died Southwold, Norfolk, England. Cremation at Great Yarmouth Crematorium
2006. A collection of his memorabilia was sold in Ireland
LIMERICK REGIMENT, IRISH VOLUNTEERS, FRAMED COLLECTION OF UNIFORM AND BADGES, comprising officer's gilt bronze cap badge, waist belt clasp, pair of dark green tunic epaulettes with small fixing buttons and pair of large tunic buttons, the whole mounted on a section of cloth taken from a Limerick Regiment officer's tunic, in a contemporary glazed stained oak frame. These items of Limerick Regiment uniform and insignia were collected by 2nd Lieutenant J.B. Jarvis, of D Company, 1st Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, during the Irish War of Independence (the 1st Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry saw service in Limerick during the War of Independence from 17th January 1920 to 21st March 1922). The Regimental Diary of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry for the period gives no clue as to the identity of the Limerick Regiment officer from whom these pieces of uniform and insignia were taken. However, research in local Limerick newspaper and other archives might reveal the identity of the original owner. The officer who collected these souvenirs, 2nd Lieutenant J.B. Jarvis, saw service during the whole of his battalion's deployment in Limerick. First commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 16th July 1919, he eventually retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 31st May 1948. A man of powerful physique, Colonel Jarvis was at one time the British Army's champion hammer thrower (lot accompanied by three photographs of Colonel Jarvis, and related photocopied newspaper cuttings).