Born on 25 June 1833 at Boston, Lincolnshire, he was the eldest son of eight children of John Hardy Raven, rector of Worlington, Suffolk, and his wife Jane Augusta, daughter of John Richman, attorney, of Lymington, Hampshire; a younger brother, the Rev.
[1] In 1857, Raven was appointed second master of Sevenoaks grammar school and was ordained curate of the parish church there.
In 1859, he became head of Bungay grammar school, a post in the gift of Emmanuel College.
He served for some time as curate of Yarmouth parish church and was from 1881 to 1885 vicar of St. George's in that town.
[1] Raven was chosen honorary canon of Norwich Cathedral in 1888, and rural dean of Hoxne in 1896, and a co-opted member of the County Education Committee on its formation in 1902.
[1] While a youth Raven studied the bells of the churches near his home at Worlington and contributed to an Ecclesiastical History of Suffolk in 1854.
He was president of the Norwich Diocesan Association of Ringers, and published books on The Church Bells of Cambridgeshire (Lowestoft, 1869; 2nd edit.