My Mother And Grandparents

[poliphilo]

My nephew, Tom Fairweather, asked me a few days back if I had any pictures of my grandfather Allen. I said I hadn't, but, having gone right through the big box of photos, I find I have this.



That's my mother on the far left and my grandmother in the middle. I'm guessing this was taken in the mid to late 30s- before the outbreak of War, at any rate- and that the photographer was my uncle Dick.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for digging this out - it's fantastic to be able to see one's ancestors. I thought I may have found him on a page listing members of the West Kent Regiment in WW1 ( http://www.ww1photos.com/WestKentRegt.html ) but on further research that soldier - John Allen - unfortunately died at Flanders.

Is that a garment or a varmint in the lower centre of the photo?

Any other photos of early Granny?

Thanks!
Tom F

[(Anonymous)]

I've just found the roll call for West Kents http://www.hut-six.co.uk/GreatWar/WestKent_A.html and there are a slew of Allens - do you know his first names?

Tom

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Excellent.

His first names were Edward Stafford. Let me know what you find.

[(Anonymous)]

The only Edward is this one:
Allen, Edward. Royal West Kent Regiment 10th Battalion. G/10153. Private.

I did some other poking around the web and found out that my Great Great Great Grandfather's job title was "Slavery Abolitionist"! That was until he was 75 when he became a drug grinder and flay scutcher.
This is assuming that I'm looking at the correct Edward Stafford Allen, born 30 May 1891 in Croydon.

Flay scutcher - A person who beat the flax to soften the straw in the bundles.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Wow!

Tell me more. How did you find out about the Great Great Great Grandfather?

Yes, that has to be the right Edward Allen- everything lines up correctly. The family did live in Croydon- which is where your mother and I spent our early childhood.

I'm surprised to learn he was a private. The Allens were quite a grand family. I'd have expected him to be an officer. I like it that he wasn't. Maybe his choosing not to take a commission had something to do with the family being Quakers/pacifists.

[(Anonymous)]

I can't prove that the private is correct as all it says is Edward Stafford, but the other stuff looks good.

I found this page for Edward Stafford Allen http://www.gencircles.com/users/barraclough/1/data/2317
You can then click back all the way to 1672, going through a Spitalfields Silkweaver, a farmer, a mason.
What did Edward Stafford do for a living?

[(Anonymous)]

Oops I meant Edward Allen, not Edward Stafford

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The family owned a flour-milling business. Ailz says she remembers buying "Allen's flour". I assume he was a director of the company or something like that.

[(Anonymous)]

Here's a painting of Stafford Allen doing his anti-slavery thing. Click the first painting, then click "show in detail", then click "show" next to his name.
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp00082
(National Portrait Gallery)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Extraordinary!

I believe the William Allen- shown at the forefront of the group- is also an ancestor of ours.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes William Allen b. 1770 in Spitalfields, London ENGLAND - the uncle of Stafford Allen. He was a chemist and philanthropist. How did you know that?

[(Anonymous)]

William Allen (1770-1843), Chemist and philanthropist
Sitter in 9 portraits
Allen began working for the Plough Court Pharmacy in the 1790s and was offered a partnership in the business. In 1807, his research on carbon enabled him to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, bringing him into contact with many pre-eminent scientists of the day. In 1841 he co-founded and became the first president of The Pharmaceutical Society. Allen's interests, however, moved from science to philanthropy and he became engaged in various schemes of social and penal improvement. He had been interested from childhood in the anti-slavery campaign; on the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 he became an active member of the African Institution, agitating for the abolition of black slavery in Sierra Leone and the West Indies.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't know exactly. My great aunt Enid may have told me. She drew me up a copy of the Allen family tree. I've still got it somewhere. There's a story that William lent the Duke of Kent the money that allowed him to get his family back home in time for the future Queen Victoria to be born on English soil.

[(Anonymous)]

Stafford Allen & Sons, founded in 1833, evolved into a producer of pure drugs and essential oils. They were known for their sandalwood and clove oil.
They later merged with another company and sold in 2000 for $970 million.
Wow!
See here for the story and a couple of photos:
http://www.perfumeprojects.com/museum/marketers/bush-boake-allen.php

[(Anonymous)]

Tony - you'll love this - A book published by Stafford Allen & Sons Ltd. called "The Romance of Empire Drugs". You can download it from this link in various formats: http://www.archive.org/details/romanceofempired00stafuoft

I think published in 1933

Tom

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The Romance of Empire Drugs. What a brilliant title!

Yes, indeed. I'll go check it out.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Where did all the money go?! Why didn't we get any?

[(Anonymous)]

Here's a whole web site for William Allen
http://www.williamallenquaker.co.uk/williamallen.htm

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'll go take a look.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think that's probably a varmint. I believe they had a couple of Scotty dogs.

I don't have much else. A portrait or two. I have more from the Grist side of the family.

Anyway, keep watching this space.

[alice-g.livejournal.com]

Granny looks exactly the same!!!! Wow. What's her secret!

Great to see.

Alice xx

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

She hasn't.

Good genes, I guess. Let's hope we've inherited them!

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the conversation on this thread about your Allen ancestors. Would you like a run-down of my Allen ancestors, prepared by my great grandmother as part of my great-aunt Myra's application to join the Daughters of the American Revolution?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes please.

Is it possible we're related?

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

You can start here and move forward on my Flickr photostream to view the entire app. It only goes back to Samuel Allen, b. 1701 somewhere in Massachusetts.

We might be related, of course, if we go back far enough, but there were tons of Allens even over here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lblanchard/3043964580/

Edward Stafford Allen

[(Anonymous)]

I spoke with Granny last night and Edward Stafford Allen was in the Leicesters apparently, so private Edward Allen of the West Kents is not our relation. It was Dick Allen who was with the West Kents.
I haven't been able to find out what Edward Stafford Allen did during the war yet.
Granny was very interested to hear all the info. She knew of William Allen the great philanthropist, but didn't know he was related.
I'll have to collate this, and visit Granny to look through some old photos!

Re: Edward Stafford Allen

[alice-g.livejournal.com]

WHo is William Allen, how am I related to him? This is fascinating? xx

Re: Edward Stafford Allen

[alice-g.livejournal.com]

Who are all these people - Thomas please can you share all this info when yo have finished collating. THis is just so intriguing, although I'm not sure who they are or how they are related!! xx

Re: Edward Stafford Allen

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

William Allen was your many times great uncle- a Quaker scientist and philanthropist, prominent in the anti-slavery movement. He's famous enough to have his portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.

Stafford Allen, William's nephew- also a campaigner against slavery, a chemist and industrialist, is your many times great grandfather.

Re: Edward Stafford Allen

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

He was with the Leicesters- right- and Leicester is where Alice has wound up- odd how things overlap- as if there's some sort of pattern there...

So he may have been an officer after all.