John Caldicott Cavell (1813 – 1887) was a shop proprietor and mayor of Oxford, England.

John Cavell was born in Bardwell, Suffolk. He married Sarah Elliston of Summertown, Oxford on 9 April 1835, at the age of 22. She was the sister of Jesse Elliston, who owned a draper's shop in central Oxford. Elliston made John Cavell a partner and the shop became known as Elliston & Cavell. This went on to become the largest department store in Oxford.

Cavell became a city councillor in 1860 and an Alderman in 1868. He was also Mayor of Oxford in 1865–6, 1877–8 and briefly in 1879–80.