William Allen

GEDCOM Note

nformation from Cynthia Glover´s (nee Coleman) book, The Allen Family´´ and first published in 2005. Cynthia´s great-great-great-grandfather was this William Allen b.before 1810. (William's daughter, Martha Allen b. 1849, married Charles Oliver, youngest son of James and Ruth Oliver).

Cynthia writes that the spelling of the surname was changed to ALLEN when the family emigrated to New Zealand.

William´s mother was not married, and he took her surname. His father was Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope. Both his father and his mother died in December 1815, when he was aged 5, and was left an orphan. It was likely he went to a family member as over half the local population was named Allin´. He was apprenticed to a farmer in Devon. William may not have received any schooling and was possibly illiterate as he signed with an X´´ when in 1873, in his 60s, he made an application for the NZ War Medal on behalf of his late son, John Hooper Allen. John had fought in the New Zealand Maori Wars.

It is thought that William had been given money by the Earl´s family to get out of England and go to New Zealand, which he did, sailing on the Amelia Thompson´ with his wife (Prudence) and two children (Thomas and John), as steerage passengers in 1841. Steerage is a section of inferior accommodations in a passenger ship for passengers paying the lowest fares. It is not known whether the nobility was having a big cleaning-out´ or whether William approached them to ask for financial help because he wished to go to New Zealand.

Because William´s father [Charles] had been dead for about twenty-five years, it is likely it would have been his [Charles] son, Philip, the 4th Earl Stanhope, who arranged the payment. At this time, Philip was the only other son still alive, and William could have stood to inherit the estates and title if anything happened to Philip.

Once in New Zealand, William and Prudence bought farmland in Mangorei Road, New Plymouth. They lived there until the Maori Wars, when they were advised to move into town for safety. William and Prudence never went back to their 75 acre farm and it was given to their third son, Sam, for 'a3275. The Allen home was one of the few untouched and was held sacred (tapu) by the Maori after an accident there.

Prudence died at their home in Pendarves Street, New Plymouth in 1889. William died three and a half years later in 1893, at the home of his daughter Martha Oliver (nee Allen) at Mangorei, New Plymouth.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 9684, 28 April 1893, Page 2 DEATH OF MR WILLIAM ALLEN Another one of the old pioneers of the settle inent has passed awny in tho person of Mr William Allen, who breathed his last at the residence of hia son in law, Mr C. Oliver, at M.ngorei on Thursday, at tho tood old age of 84. Mr Allon, *ho came from tho south of England, came out in the Amelia Thompson, tho second vessel that brought settlers to these shores. Like all the early rettlers, Mr Allen engaged in fanning pursuits, and on tlio outbreak of tho war had to tuko part in quolling the rebellion of the natives, Mrs Allen oierl on October 13, 1889 at ibe mature ago of 78 There are a great many descendants of the pioneer soltled in this Province, especially in the Mangorai district. Mr Thomas Allen and Mr William Alien, of Mangorei district, are surviving sons of the deceased, another son, Mr Samuel Allen having died a fow years ago, and Mrs C. Oliver, of Mangorei is a daughter.

GEDCOM Source

@R451400@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Database online. Record for William Allen http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=0&pid=461

GEDCOM Source

@R451400@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Database online. Record for William Allen http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=0&pid=461