I finally found Anthony in the 51 Census!!!!

I just can't explain my elation of the past few minutes as I finally, FINALLY, located Anthony Edward Corvan in the 1851 census after many years of fruitless searching. He wasn't living at home with his wife and children in 1851,and I conducted searches under every possible variation of 'Corvan', 'Anthony' and even 'Edward' as he was known occasionally to switch to his middle name. I had an inkling that he may have been in prison because of his bankruptcy, but that line of research also always drew a blank. Then tonight, at long last, a long-shot search simply for the initials "A.E" with no last name finally struck pay dirt.....Anthony Edward Corvan was in the Queens Prison in Southwark, incorrectly recorded as "A.E Curran". There is absolutely no doubt that it is our man....
Queens Prison/ A.E Curran/married/31/baker/ born St. Giles, Middlesex".
The initials are correct, the age and marital status are spot on, and the occupation and birthplace are a perfect match. Add the fact that 'Curran', like 'Cowan' is a common misspelling of 'Corvan' and all doubt that this could be anyone else than Anthony Corvan is removed.

The Queens Prison in Southwark, formerly called the Kings Bench, was a place of confinement for debtors and those sentenced to imprisonment by the Court of Queens bench for libels and other small misdemeanors. the prison comprised of 224 separate rooms and a "spacious" chapel, and was surrounded by a "sombre" 50 feet high wall. In the interior was a large exercise ground. The rooms were very small, being about 9 feet square, and each contained a bed and other conveniences for the inmates.At the time of Anthony's incarceration, visitors could call at the prison from any time between nine in the morning and seven in the evening to visit whoever they wanted...this was certainly no Pentonville or Milbank!
The census return concerning the inmates at Queens Prison at the time of the 1851 census covered almost ten pages, and Anthony Corvan's entry was the second last. The other three inmates on the same page as him were a 70 year old "gentleman" named John Hutchinson, a 28 year old solicitor named B. Brock Jones and James Farratt, a 69 year old "Commoner E.I Company", the 'E.I' of course representing 'East India Company'.
I've just conducted a very rough tally of the occupations of Anthony's fellow inmates, and they include about 50 "Gentlemen", about 60 who were involved in trades or business, 12 involved with Law (barristers -at-law or solicitors), 2 surgeons and various others from 'inventors' to no occupation at all. There were also eight women debtors in the Prison.

I have no idea the period of time that Anthony Corvan spent in debtors prison.The notices for his bankruptcy started appearing in 1850 and continued until December 1852.
From the 1851 entry for the rest of his family, it appears that Mary Healy Corvan and other family members were trying to keep the bakery ship afloat.The 1851 census finds the Corvan family living at 73 Lisson Grove North:

Mary Corvan/ sister / marr/ 25/ shop assistant/ b Bloomsbury M’sex
Mary Corvan/ daughter/ 3/ b St. Pancras
Rosa Corvan/ daughter/ 3 months/ b Marylebone
Ellen Healy/ mother/ widow/ 69/ undertaker’s wife/ b Ireland
Margaret Dore/ servant/ unmarr/21/ house servant/ b Ireland
George Strickland/ foreman/ unmarr/ 29/ baker/ b Somerset
Andrew Coles/ 2nd hand/ 27/ baker/ b Somerset
Daniel Smith/ 3rd hand/ 18/ baker/ b Westminster, M’sex.

Two things are notable here- as well as Anthony Corvan being absent from the family group, so is his infant daughter Ellen Annette Corvan. She should have been listed between daughters Mary and Rosa.

Also, Mary Healy Corvan is not listed as being head of the household herself, or wife of head, but ‘sister’. This implies that either her brother, James Healy, or brother-in-law, Patrick Corvan, owned or leased the premises in which she lived. I suggest the latter, as an 1852 Postal Directory for London lists ‘Patrick Corvan, baker’ living at 73 Lisson Grove. I think this may have been a ruse to allow the bankrupt Anthony's family to go on functioning as a bakery, as Patrick the previous year was living with his family in Clement’s Lane, and continued to do so for years.
The leases for the two Corvan bakeries appeared for sale in the Times in late May of 1850, yet Mary and her family were still living there almost a year later, and Rosa was born at 73 Lisson Grove North in January of 1851.

One last child, named John Corvan, was born to Anthony and Mary Corvan in England, although it appears as though his birth was not registered. His death was recorded in the September quarter of 1854 in the Marylebone district however, and I have ordered this certificate to obtain an address and the cause of death.