The surname Kervil contributed much to local politics and in the affairs of England or Scotland. During the 11th and 12th centuries many of these Norman families moved north to Scotland. Later, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries England was ravaged by religious and political conflict. The Monarchy, the Church and Parliament fought for supremacy. Religious elements vied for control, the State Church, the Roman Church and the Reform Church. All, in their time, made demands on rich and poor alike. They broke the spirit of men and many turned from religion, or alternatively, renewed their faith, pursuing with vigour and ferocity, the letter of the ecclesiastical law. Many families were freely "encouraged" to migrate to Ireland, or to the "colonies". Nonbelievers or dissidents were banished, sometimes even hanged.

 

The settlers in Ireland became known as the "Adventurers for land in Ireland". They undertook to keep the Protestant faith. In Ireland they assumed the name McCarvill in Ulster and were a family noted for their musicians.

 

 

The democratic attitudes of the New World spread like wildfire. Many migrated aboard the fleet of sailing ships known as the "White Sails". The stormy Atlantic, smallpox, dysentry, cholera and typhoid took its toll on the settlers and many of these tiny, overcrowded ships arrived with only 60 or 70% of their passenger list. The migration or banishment to the New World continued, some voluntarily from Ireland, but mostly directly from England or Scotland, their home territories. Some clans and families even moved to the European continent.

 

 

In North America, migrants which could be considered a kinsman of the family name Kervil, or variable spellings of that same family name included Edward Carvel who settled in Philadelphia in 1852; William Carvill settled in Philadelphiain 1844; Patrick Carville settled in Philadelphia in 1868; James Carwell and his wife Margaret settled in Georgia in 1732. From the port of arrival many settlers joined the wagon trains westward. During the American War of Independence some declared their loyalty to the Crown and moved northward into Canada and became known as the United Empire Loyalists.

 

There were many notables of this name Kervil, John Eric Carvell, Foreign Service

 

Diplomat; John Maclean Carvell, Diplomat.