On a completely different tack a Henry Jesse McSporran was born in St George's Hanover Square in 1880. Seems to vanish into thin air thereafter. Only other McSporran link I can see with that area is a Robert McSporran who was working as a butler in London in 1871. He was from Scotland but had a wife and family back home in Ryde, Isle of Wight. His first wife Edith nee Pope died in Ryde in 1871 ( strangely the notice of her death says she was the widow of Robert) and in 1877 he married Elizabeth Whitely in St Georges HS. She was much younger than him and appears to have been a maid in the same household as Robert in 1871. In 1883 Robert's daughter from his first marriage, Amelia Olivia McSporran, married in St George's HS ( giving her father as Robert, occupation Butler). There is no sign of Henry Jesse with either Robert and Elizabeth or Amelia in later census and no evidence that he died young. I wonder if he was born to Amelia before marriage and Robert used his upper class contacts to have him placed with another family. Just something to add to the mix!
Re. Taking the name of the deceased Henry Jesse Lovell - if he was going to choose a name to adopt wouldn't he look for someone closer in age who had served in the same service ie Royal Navy?
Isobel