John Sarvis was born in St. Pancras, Middlesex [now London] in 1871. He was articled to John Kingwell Cole (1860-1928) from 1890 to 1893 and remained as an improver until 1896. He commenced independent practice in Woking, Surrey in 1906 and that year formed a partnership with Kenneth Wood (1869?-1943) as Wood & Sarvis. Robert George Muir (1888-1968) later joined the firm which became Wood, Sarvis & Muir. Sarvis was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911. He died in Winchester, Hampshire on 29 February 1928
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
'Obituary'. RIBA Journal vol. 35, march 1928 pp. 343, 347