(98) Allen of Davenham Hall

In 1854, Peter Allen (1815-92) married the daughter of John Edward Taylor (d. 1844), the founder of the Manchester Guardian, and became involved in the management of the newspaper, eventually as partner with his brother-in-law, John Edward Taylor junior. About 1870 the two men bought the recently founded Manchester Evening News, and from 1879 the two papers shared the same offices.  Allen was part of Manchester's Liberal elite, and two of his sons went on to become Liberal MPs.  His eldest son, Russell Allen (1860-1927) succeeded his father in his newspaper interests.  When The Manchester Guardian was sold to the editor, C.P. Scott, in 1907, he took full control of the Manchester Evening News, which remained an independent newspaper until 1924, when he sold it to the company which Scott had established to operate the Guardian.  The merger laid the foundations of the present Guardian Media Group.

The Allens made considerable wealth from the Manchester newspapers, and in about 1909 Russell Allen bought Davenham Hall, an early 19th century neo-classical house; he also had a house in Beaumaris (Anglesey) which he used as a base for sailing.  After his death, Davenham Hall passed to his son, Peter Lewis Russell Allen (1899-1983), and was occupied by his three redoubtable but unmarried older sisters.  It was finally sold in 1979 after the last of them died.  After the Second World War, P.L.R. Allen himself occupied a series of houses in the Cotswolds, including Fosse House at Stow-on-the-Wold and Little Aston Mill at Bourton-on-the-Water.

Davenham Hall, Cheshire

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Davenham Hall in Cheshire was the home of the Holford family. John Holford fought for the Royalist cause in the Civil War and Richard Holford was taxed on six hearths at the Hearth Tax in 1664. His house was a timber-framed building known as Davenham Lodge, which remained in the Holford family until after the death of Allen Holford in 1771, when his son, another Allen Holford, sold it to his brother-in-law, Thomas Highlord Ravenscroft (d. 1795). Ravenscroft apparently rebuilt the house before his death, but there is little evidence for his work in the present building. The house was sold by Ravenscroft's trustees to a Liverpool slave merchant, William Harper (1749-1815), subject to his widow's life tenancy, which Harper bought out in about 1809, and passed at Harper's death to his daughter Anne (d. 1820) and son-in-law, John Hosken (later Harper) (d. 1865).

Davenham Hall from a 19th century engraving.

The present building seems to have been built by John Hosken Harper in about 1822. The six- by three-bay, two storey stuccoed brick main block has a slate roof; the east-facing entrance front is symmetrical, with a pediment and a wide two-bay porch of six freely-detailed Tuscan columns. The three-bay north side is extended by a long service wing. If there is any late 18th century work, it will be on the south side, but is now rather obscured by later additions. There is a small, stuccoed lodge, probably of the early 19th century, on the London road, with a bow and a pedimented door, which has been extended by the addition of similar but more simply-detailed pavilions in the late 20th century.

Davenham Hall today

For what is externally a rather plain and undemonstrative house, there is a surprisingly rich neo-classical and Grecian interior. The entrance hall has a boldly moulded ceiling with Grecian motifs and a severe black marble chimneypiece. To the left, the drawing room has more delicate plaster decoration in the Wyatt style and a chimneypiece with dancing figures. The best interior is the staircase hall with a shallow dome supporting a circular lantern and fan-shaped fluting on the pendentives. The staircase has an elegant wrought-iron balustrade, and rises to the first floor landing where there is a screen of four Doric columns with a correct and well-proportioned entablature.

Davenham Hall: first-floor landing in 1980. Image: Historic England

Davenham passed by marriage after 1872 to the France-Hayhursts of Bostock Hall, who sold in the 1890s to Christopher Kay (d. c.1907). It was sold again about 1909 to Russell Allen (1860-1927), the proprietor of the Manchester Evening News. When he died the house passed to his four redoubtable unmarried daughters, who remained in residence until the last of them, Miss Doris Evelyn Russell Allen, died in 1979. The house was then in a rather tired state, but it was restored and converted for use as a nursing home in 1980, a purpose it continues to serve; the outbuildings were converted in 2009 into a specialist unit for dementia patients.


Descent: John Holford (b. 1599); to son?, Richard Holford (fl. 1664)...Alexander Holford (d. 1759); to son, Allen Holford (d. 1771); to son, Allen Holford (d. 1788), who sold to his brother-in-law, Thomas Highlord Ravenscroft (d. 1795); sold by his trustees to William Harper of Liverpool (d. 1815), subject to his widow's life tenancy, which Harper bought out c.1809; to daughter Anne (d. 1820) and son-in-law, John Hosken (later Harper) (d. 1865); to son, William Hosken Harper (d. 1872); to nephew, Charles Hosken France-Hayhurst; sold after 1892 to Christopher Kay (d. c.1907); sold c.1909 to Russell Allen (1860-1927); to daughters, of whom Doris Evelyn Russell Allen (1889-1979) was the last survivor; sold 1980 and converted into a nursing home.

Allen family of Davenham Hall

Note: some of the descendants of Russell Allen have adopted the surname Russell-Allen, but it is not clear how consistently or officially this has been done.

Peter Allen (1815-92)

Allen, Peter (1815-92).  Son of John Allen (b. 1772) of Tiverton (Devon) and his wife Elizabeth Acland, born 7 May 1815.  Educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton.  Newspaper proprietor and publisher in Manchester; part-owner of Manchester Guardian and proprietor of the Manchester Evening News. He married, August 1854, Sophia Russell (d. 1868), daughter of John Edward Taylor, founder of the Manchester Guardian, and had issue:
(1) Russell Allen (1860-1927) (q.v.);
(2) Rt. Hon. Charles Peter Allen (1861-1930), born at Prestwich, 2 December 1861; educated at Rugby, University College, Oxford and Inner Temple (called to bar, 1888); journalist and foreign correspondent for Manchester Guardian; Liberal MP for Stroud (Glos), 1900-18; served WW1 as Major, 5th Battn, Gloucestershire Regiment; a Charity Commissioner, 1910; appointed to Privy Council, 1912; DL for Gloucestershire; married, 1880, Evelina, daughter of Alfred Barker of Constantinople and Elmfield, Esher (Surrey), and had issue one son and four daughters; died 18 September 1930; will proved 30 October 1930 (estate £132,325);
(3) John Edward Taylor Allen (1864-1919) of Holt House, Mobberley (Cheshire), born 11 September 1864; educated at Rugby; JP for Cheshire; died unmarried, 5 May 1919; will proved 30 July 1919 (estate £83,528);
(4) Arthur Acland Allen (1868-1939), born 11 August 1868; educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford; called to the bar, 1893; Liberal MP for Christchurch, 1906-10, Dumbartonshire 1910-18; member of London County Council, 1899-1913 (Deputy Chairman, 1908-09); Alderman, 1919-23; married, 31 July 1900, Gladys Hope, daughter of J. Douglas Walker KC and had issue three daughters; died 20 May 1939; will proved 22 July 1939 (estate £77,315);
(5) Sophia Mabel Allen (1859-96) of Margate (Kent), born 15 April 1859; died 12 September 1896; will proved 11 December 1896 (estate £8,133).
He lived at Overbrook, Kersal, Manchester.
He died 1 September 1892 and was buried at Prestwich, 5 September 1892.  His will was proved 30 December 1892 (estate £150,954).  His wife died 11 August 1868.

Allen, Russell (1860-1927), of Davenham Hall.  Eldest son of Peter Allen (1815-92) and his wife Sophia Russell, daughter of John Edward Taylor, born 11 May 1860.  Educated at Rugby.  Proprietor of the Manchester Evening News, which he inherited from his uncle in 1905.  JP and DL for Anglesey; High Sheriff of Anglesey.  He married, 3 March 1886, Blanche (1865-1949), daughter of Joseph Moseley of Cringle Hall, Manchester, and had issue:
(1) Monica Una Russell Allen (1886-1905); born 5 December 1886; died unmarried at Quiberville (France), 13 July 1905;
(2) Doris Evelyn Russell Allen (1889-1979), born 7 June 1889; died unmarried, 6 February 1979;
(3) John Edric Russell Allen (1890-1918), born 3 August 1890; educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (admitted 1909; BA 1912); served WW1 in 16th Lancers; died of wounds, 8 April 1918; buried at St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen (France);
(4) Geraldine May Russell Allen (1893-1978), born 1 May 1893; OBE 1958 for political and public services in Cheshire; died unmarried, 2 July 1978;
(5) Margaret Diana Russell Allen (1896-1974), born 4 November 1896; author of children's books including Many Moons under the acronym Mard; died unmarried, 24 March 1974.
(6) Peter Lewis Russell Allen (1899-1983) (q.v.);
He purchased Davenham Hall in about 1909, and also had a house at Beaumaris on Anglesey.  After his death, Davenham Hall passed to his four unmarried daughters, and was sold in 1980 after the death of the last surviving daughter.
He died 23 March 1927 and was buried at Davenham, where there is a war memorial chapel formed by screens designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, 1929, in his memory.  His will was proved 13 March 1928 (estate £321,963).  His widow died 27 December 1949.  Her will was proved 29 March 1950 (estate £72,437).

Allen, Peter Lewis Russell (1899-1983) of Fosse House, Stow-on-the-Wold (Glos).  Only surviving son of Russell Allen (1860-1927) and his wife Blanche, daughter of Joseph Moseley of Cringle Hall, Manchester, born 31 August 1899.  Educated at Radley School. Master of The Cheshire Forest foxhounds, 1933-44.  He married, 1933, Margaret, daughter of Philip Greenwood of The First, Parkfield, Knutsford (Cheshire) and had issue:
(1) John Peter Russell Allen (b. 1942), born January 1942;
(2) June Russell Allen (b. 1939), born July 1939;
(3) Rosemary Margaret Russell Allen (b. 1946), born September 1946.
He briefly lived at Fosse House, Stow-on-the-Wold (Glos) in the 1950s.
He died 2 July 1978 and was buried at Davenham.  His widow died 1 February 1988 and was buried at Davenham.

Sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, p. 25; D. & S. Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. 2, part 2, 1810, pp. 646, 845; Ormerod, History of Cheshire, 1819, pp. 126-7; The Admission Register of Manchester School, vol. 2, p. 263;

Location of archives

Allen, Charles Peter (1861-1930): correspondence, 1895-1913 [Warwick University Modern Records Centre, MSS.118]

Coat of arms

Gules, within two bars nebuly, as many mullets, in chief a mullet between two martlets and in base a martlet, all argent.

Revision and acknowledgements
This account was first published 31 December 2013 and was revised 6 June 2016.

(97) Allen of Coleridge House

The Allen family were established at Truro (Cornwall) over several generations, and John Allen served as mayor of Truro in 1761.  They were probably connected with a minor gentry family, the Allens of Boskenwyn (Cornwall), who themselves claimed descent from a cadet branch of the Alens of St. Wolstans.  In 1776 Michael Allen (c.1749-1828), son of the mayor of Truro, married the heiress of John Cornish of Coleridge House in Devon, and they had come into possession of the property by 1793.  At Michael's death it passed to his only son, Capt. John Allen (1791-1883), who seems to have built the present house shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by his son, Capt. George Edmund Allen (1841-1914), who sold Coleridge House and bought the smaller property of Wickeridge Lodge at Woodland near Ashburton a few years later. Capt. Allen died at Maymyo, the summer capital of British Burma, in 1914; which may indicate he had also bought a rubber plantation.  He was succeeded by his two spinster daughters, who remained at Wickeridge Lodge until the 1970s and also had a home near Durban in South Africa.

Coleridge House, Stokenham, Devon

Coleridge House

Coleridge must be an ancient estate as the house gives its name to the hundred (ancient territorial unit) within which Stokenham lay, but nothing is known of the house which stood here before the 19th century.  The present building is an irregular two-storey gabled neo-Tudor house, probably built soon after Capt. John Allen (1791-1883) inherited the estate in 1828.  Rights of way were diverted to enable the creation of a private garden in 1833 and it was called a 'handsome new mansion' in 1850. It has recently been restored and divided into flats and is in multiple occupation.

Descent: John Cornish; to daughter, Agnes (d. 1803), wife of Michael Allen (c.1749-1828); to son, Capt. John Allen (1791-1883), who rebuilt it; to son, Capt. George Edmund Allen (1841-1914), who sold.

Allen family of Coleridge House

Allen, Michael (c.1749-1828), of Coleridge House.  Only son of John Allen and his wife Philippa, daughter of James Macarmick, born about 1749.  Barrister at law. He married, 16 July 1776 Agnes (d. 1803), only daughter and heiress of John Cornish of Coleridge House, and had issue:
(1) Agnes Cornish Allen (1778-1846), baptised at Stokenham, 14 October 1778; married, 9 May 1799, Edwin Sandys (later Sir Edwin Bayntun-Sandys) (1774-1848), DCL, 1st and last bt. of Miserden Park (Glos) and Chadlington Hall (Oxon) and had issue two sons and three daughters; died at Tintagel (Cornwall), 13 March and was buried there, 18 March 1846;
(2) Anne Allen (1780-1827), baptised at Stokenham, 5 October 1780; married 9 or 26 March 1804, Admiral Henry Manaton Ommanney (1775-1857) and had issue, two sons; died at Stonehouse (Devon), 31 March and was buried at St George's, Stonehouse, 7 April 1827;
(3) twin, Catherine Allen (1781-1829), baptised at Stokenham, 22 December 1781; died unmarried, 4 May and was buried at Stokenham, 9 May 1829;
(4) twin, Dorothea Macarmick Allen (1771-1834), baptised at Stokenham, 22 December 1781; married, 12 February 1807, Rev. William Ilbert Birdwood (1775-1841), rector of Throwley (Devon) and had issue two sons; buried at St Marylebone, London, 25 April 1834;
(5) Elizabeth Allen (1784-1867), baptised at Stokenham, 29 November 1784; died unmarried at Park Place, Plymouth, 8 February and was buried at Stokenham, 25 February 1867 where she is commemorated by a monumental inscription; her will was proved 13 March 1867;
(6) Mary Allen (1785-1873), baptised at Stokenham, 30 December 1785; died unmarried at East Stonehouse (Devon), 22 December 1873 and was buried at Stokenham, where she is commemorated by a monumental inscription; her will was proved 3 June 1874 (estate under £4,000);
(7) Phillippa Macarmick Allen (b. 1788), baptised at Stokenham, 11 March 1788; died unmarried;
(8) Fanny Allen (1790-1841), baptised at Stokenham, 28 March 1790; died unmarried, 16 February 1841 and was buried at Stokenham, 20 February 1841;
(9) Capt. John Allen (1791-1883) (q.v.);
(10) Phoebe Allen (1793-1845), baptised at Stokenham, 9 May 1793; married, 21 June 1826 at King Charles the Martyr, Plymouth (Devon), Rev. Dr. John Savery Tozer DD (1791-1835), Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, 1812-27 and later curate of St Petrock, Exeter (Devon), and had issue two daughters; buried at St Leonard, Exeter, 4 July 1845; will proved, 23 August 1845.

He inherited Coleridge House in right of his wife before 1793. In his will he was described as of Mount Plym, Plymouth.
He died 21 February and was buried at Stokenham, 27 February 1828.  His will was proved 18 July 1828.  His wife died 12 July and was buried at Stokenham, 22 July 1803.

Allen, Capt. John (1791-1883), of Coleridge House.  Only son of Michael Allen (c.1749-1828) and his wife Agnes, only daughter and heiress of John Cornish of Coleridge House, baptised 24 April 1791.  Captain in Royal Cornwall Rangers; JP and DL for Devon. He married, 4 February 1836 at East Allington (Devon), Marianne Catherine (c.1810-42), second daughter of Edmund Nathaniel William Fortescue of Fallapit, and had issue:
(1) Blanche Elizabeth Trosse Allen (1837-83), baptised at Stokenham, 27 January 1837; married, 12 December 1855, Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety (1817-94) of Lockerley Hall (Hants) and had issue five sons and seven daughters; died 11 April 1883 and was buried at East Tytherley (Hants);
(2) John Michael Allen (1838-59), baptised at Stokenham, 5 March 1838; Captain in 91st Argyllshire Highlanders; died unmarried, 1 July and was buried at Stokenham, 6 July 1859;
(3) Kate Fortescue Allen (1840-42), baptised at Stokenham, 15 July 1840; died in infancy, 30 December 1842 and was buried with her mother, 4 January 1843 at Stokenham;
(4) Capt. George Edmund Allen (1841-1914) (q.v.).
He inherited Coleridge House from his father in 1828 and rebuilt the house.
He died 17 May 1883, aged 92, and was buried 22 May 1883 at Stokenham, where he is commemorated by a monumental inscription.  Administration of his estate was granted at Exeter, 22 July 1883.  His wife died 29 December 1842 and was buried 4 January 1843 at Stokenham.

Allen, Capt. George Edmund (1841-1914).   Only surviving son of Capt. John Allen (1791-1883) and his wife Marianne Catherine, daughter of Edmund Nathaniel William Fortescue of Fallapit (Devon), born 7 November 1841.  Captain in the South Devon Militia. He married 1st, 4 April 1872, Catherine Rodber (1843-92), daughter of Rev. William Cooper Johnson of Diptford (Devon), and 2nd, 13 December 1894, Agnes Charlotte (1860-1923), daughter of Capt. Robert Knox of Cahirleske (Kilkenny), and had issue:
(2.1) Katherine Agnes Allen (1895-1981), born 12 October 1895 and baptised at Ballaghtobin (Kilkenny); died unmarried, 1981;
(2.2) Philippa Blanche Fortescue Allen (1898-1975), born 27 December 1898 and baptised at Ballaghtobin (Kilkenny); died unmarried, 28 October 1975.
He inherited Coleridge House from his father in 1883, but sold it before 1893 and bought the Wickeridge Lodge estate at Woodland near Ashburton instead.  After his death, Wickeridge Lodge passed to his two daughters as tenants in common; they also had a home near Durban in South Africa.
He died 8 February 1914 at Maymyo, Mandalay, Burma, and was buried there the following day.  His first wife died in London, 2 September 1892. and was buried at Woodland, where the reredos in the church was constructed in her memory.  His widow married 2nd, 1922, Ernest Godfrey Mills, but died 19 February 1923.

Sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1952, pp. 26-27; B. Cherry & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Devon, 2nd edn., 1989, p. 766.

Location of archives

Allen family of Coleridge and Wickeridge: deeds, correspondence, photographs and papers, 1793-1967 [Devon Heritage Centre, 6970]

Coat of arms

None known.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 30 December 2013, and was updated 20 September 2015 and 3 August 2022. I am most grateful to Hugh Casement and Greg Scannell for correcting errors.

(96) Allen of Clashenure House and formerly of Greenfield House

Allen family of Cork

A soldier called Abraham Allen settled in Ireland as part of the Elizabethan plantation of Cork.  His grandson and namesake became a prosperous Cork vintner, and began the family's transition to the landed gentry.  His third son, Richard (d. 1752), bought Greenfield House near Kanturk before 1700 and his youngest son, Kyrle (d. 1745), married into Clashenure House at Ovens.  Greenfield descended through four generations of the family before being sold in 1840 when the family bought the lease of Liscongill nearby.  Shortly afterwards, however, they seem to have got into financial difficulties: Philip Allen, the brother of the owner, was an insolvent debtor in 1853, and the lease seems to have been given up after William Allen died in 1861.  His widow and most of her children then emigrated to Natal in South Africa.

The Clashenure branch of the family have weathered the vicissitudes of the 19th and 20th centuries more successfully, and remain in possession of the estate, which they will have held for 300 years in 2014.  The house was reputedly rebuilt in 1819, during the minority of Kyrle Allen (1807-52), and was restored in 1960 for the poet and writer, Alfred Allen (b. 1925), who celebrated his lineage and the family's connection with the landscape of Cork in a series of books between 1971 and 1992. The house was purchased from other members of the family in 2018 by Vicky Allen and her husband, Dave Ahern, who have since been undertaking a restoration.

Greenfield House, Clonfert, Co. Cork

A small gentry house beside the River Dalua, NW of Kanturk, probably built c.1700 for Richard Allen (d. 1752), but altered or rebuilt after c.1840 for Michael Boyan, who owned 570 acres in Co. Cork in the 1870s.

Descent: sold before 1700 to Richard Allen (d. 1752); to son, Philip Allen (b. c.1698); to son, William Allen (1739-1823); to son, William Allen (1774-1854); who sold c.1840 to Michael Boyan.

Liscongill, Clonfert, Co. Cork

The Liscongill demesne, from the first edition of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland 6" map, c.1841-42

A property on the Aldworths' Newmarket Court estate a mile or two west of Greenfield and on the opposite bank of the River Dalua, which was leased to William Allen (1774-1854) and his son, William Allen (1807-61).  The property stood in a small landscaped demesne, but nothing is known of the architecture of the house.  By 1943 the house had been subdivided and it was subsequently demolished.

Descent: leased to William Allen (1774-1854); to son, William Allen (1807-61)

Clashenure House, Ovens, Co. Cork

Clashenure House. Image: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage

A modest two-storey five bay late Georgian house with a recessed four-bay wing to the left, built about 1819 and restored in 1960.  The whole house is slate-roofed, rendered and painted white. There is a prominent but not attractive conservatory-porch attached to the front of the house, but in the late 20th century some of the windows and other timber details of the house were replaced in uPVC, leading to an erosion of its quality and character. Since 2018, work has been taking place to restore the house to its original condition.

Clashenure House, from the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, 1st edition 6" map, c.1841-42.

Descent: Joshua Dowe (d. 1714); to son-in-law, Kyrle Allen (d. 1745); to son, Joshua Allen (1708-63); to son, Kyrle Allen (1744-1808); to son, Kyrle Allen (1807-52); to son, Kyrle Allen (d. 1887); to brother, Alfred William Allen (1837-1917); to son, Kyrle Allen (1872-1955); to son, Alfred Allen (b. 1925); sold 2018 to Dave Ahern and Vicky Allen (granddaughter of Alfred Allen).

Allen family of Clashenure, Greenfield and Liscongill (Cork)

Allen, Abraham (fl. late 17th cent.), of Curraghroe (Cork).  Son of Philip Allen and his wife Mary, daughter of Henry Gillman.  Vintner, merchant and possibly shipowner in Cork.  He married Rebecca, only daughter of Capt. Philip Clements and had had issue:
(1) Philip Allen; married Mary Dowe and had issue;
(2) Abraham Allen (d. 1721); married Mary Webster and had issue; died 10 June 1721; will proved 21 June 1721;
(3) Richard Allen (d. 1752) (q.v.);
(4) George Allen; married Grace Willington, and had issue;
(5) Kyrle Allen (d. 1745) (q.v.);
(6) Mary Allen; married Robert Radley (b. c.1658) of Knockrane.
His date of death is unknown.

Allen, Richard (d. 1752) of Greenfield.  Third son of Abraham Allen (fl. late 17th cent.) and his wife Rebecca, daughter of Capt. Philip Clements.  He married, 1693, Cecilia, daughter of Rev. Thomas Palmer JP of Kilmore (Kerry) and had issue:
(1) Abraham Allen of Ballyduane, Newmarket (Co. Cork) and Fermoyle, Duhallow (Co. Cork); married Mary, daughter of Henry Webb and had issue one son and three daughters;
(2) Philip Allen (b. c.1698) of Greenfield (q.v.);
(3) Richard Allen (d. 1786) of Coolavoosane; married Ellen Purdon and had issue four daughters; buried 16 March 1786;
(4) William Allen (d. 1785); married, 21 January 1742, Eliza, daughter of Richard Aldworth of Newmarket (Co. Cork) and had issue two sons and seven daughters; died 1785;
(5) George Allen (d. 1789), of Bettyville (Co. Cork); married Mary Pierce and had issue one son and four daughters; will proved 26 November 1789;
(6) Kyrle Allen, of Ballyholahane (Co. Cork); married 1st, Catherine, daughter of Maj. Charles Campbell of Co. Kerry and had issue two sons and one daughter, and 2nd, Jane Carmichael;
(7) Mary Allen; married Philip Roe.
He purchased Greenfield, Co. Cork before 1700.
He died in 1752.

Allen, Philip (b. c.1698), of Greenfield.  Second son of Richard Allen (d. 1752) and his wife Cecilia, daughter of Rev. Thomas Palmer, born about 1698.  He married, 25 July 1734, Margaret, daughter of John Purcell of Gurtmard (Co. Cork) and had issue:
(1) William Allen (1739-1823) (q.v.).
He inherited Greenfield from his father in 1752.
His date of death is unknown.

Allen, William (1739-1823), of Greenfield.  Only son of Philip Allen (b. c.1698) and his wife Margaret, daughter of John Purcell of Gurtmard (Co. Cork), born 1738/9.  He married, 29 June 1767, Catherine (d. 1837), youngest daughter of William Philpot, freeman of Dromagh (Co. Cork) and had issue:
(1) Philip Allen (c.1772-1832); married, 7 November 1815, Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Joshua Barry[?] of Mallow (Co. Cork) and had issue a daughter; died December 1832;
(2) William Allen (1774-1854) of Liscongill (Co. Cork) (q.v.);
(3) Richard Allen (b. 1776), baptised 15 November 1776; died unmarried and without issue;
(4) Mary Allen (d. 1816); married 1st, 1795, John Collins (d. 1808) of Gurteenard (Co. Cork) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, William Beamish Cuthbert; died 1816;
(5) Margaret Allen (1779-1837), born 9 October 1779; married, 6 January 1806, Joseph Devonshire Fisher of Woodmount (Co. Waterford), son of Gabriel Fisher of Waterford, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 1 April 1837;
(6) Isabella Allen (b. 1782), baptised 28 October 1782; married, 10 April 1828, Edward Delany of Lismagoormeen (Co. Cork) but died without issue;
(7) Elizabeth Allen (1785-1837), born 20 January 1785; married John O'Neill and had issue one daughter; died April 1837.
He inherited Greenfield from his father.  At his death it passed to his eldest son, Philip, and on his death to his second son, William.
He died 31 May 1823, aged 84.  His widow died 31 March 1837, aged 91.

Allen, William (1774-1854), of Liscongill.  Second son of William Allen (1739-1823) and his wife Catherine, daughter of William Philpot of Dromagh (Co. Cork), born 1774. He married, c.1806, Mary Salt, daughter of James Lowe of Sally Park, and had issue:
(1) William Allen (1807-61) of Liscongill (q.v.);
(2) Sarah Allen (b. 1809), born 13 July 1809;
(3) Rev. James Allen (1810-96), born 9 September 1810; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (BA); rector of Creagh (Co. Cork); married, 19 September 1845, Sarah, eldest daughter of John Leslie of Courtmacoheny and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 9 May 1896;
(4) Mary Allen (1812-1906), born 20 July 1812; married, 1 November 1842, Rev. John Beamish (d. 1847), son of Dr. John Beamish of Killinear and Bandon (Co. Cork), and had issue; died 29 July 1906;
(5) Isabella Allen (b. 1815), born 15 September 1815; married in Durban (South Africa), 23 April 1857, Capt. Gould Arthur Lucas (d. 1914), of 73rd Regt.;
(6) George Wellesley Allen (1817-78); solicitor at Kanturk (Co. Cork); married 18 July 1850, Margaret, daughter of Henry Allen of Billaght, and had issue one son; died 27 July 1878 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery (Middx), 31 July 1878; will proved in Dublin, 14 March 1879 (estate under £1,500);
(7) Louisa Allen (b. 1819; fl. 1901), born 12 November 1819; married, 14 March 1861, Dr. Robert B. Struthers MD;
(8) Catherine Allen (b. 1822), born 11 March 1822;
(9) Philip Allen (1823-65) of Liscongill, born 15 April 1823; married, 7 October 1847, Frances (d. 1895), only daughter of Lt-Col. the Hon. Philip James Cocks; insolvent debtor, 1853; died June 1865.
He inherited Greenfield from his elder brother in 1832, but sold it c.1840. He bought the lease of Liscongill in 1841.
He died in 1854. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Allen, William (1807-61), of Liscongill.  Eldest son of William Allen (1774-1854) and his wife Mary Salt, daughter of James Law of Sally Park (Co. Dublin), born 15 July 1807.  He married, 18 August 1842, Clara Dalinda (b. 1823), younger daughter of Francis Christopher Bland of Derryquin Castle (Kerry) and had issue:
(1) William Allen (b. 1843), born 27 August 1843;
(2) Lucy Christina Allen (b. 1844), born 25 December 1844;
(3) Francis Christopher Bland Allen (b. 1847), born 27 February 1847; emigrated to Natal, South Africa;
(4) Mary Isabella Matilde Allen (b. 1848), born 6 September 1848;
(5) Edward Herbert Allen (b. 1850), born 28 August 1850;
(6) James Franklin Switham Allen (b. 1852), born 15 July 1852; educated at Royal University of Ireland (MCh, MD); married, 11 July 1882, Jane, daughter of James Campbell of Crieff (Perths) and had issue one son and three daughters; emigrated to Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa;
(7) Robert Allen (b. 1854), born 9 June 1854; died on board ship while emigrating to Natal, South Africa, 29 December 1874;
(8) Clara Dalinda Allen (b. 1856), born 17 September 1856;
(9) John Bland Allen (b. 1859), born 10 June 1859; emigrated to Natal, South Africa.
He inherited Liscongill from his father in 1854; the lease was probably given up after his death.
He died at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, 29 July 1861.  His widow (fl. 1895) emigrated to Natal with two of her sons.

Allen, Kyrle (d. 1745) of Clashenure. Fifth and youngest son of Abraham Allen (fl. late 17th cent.) and his wife Rebecca, daughter of Capt. Philip Clements.  He married Susanna (fl. 1752), daughter and heiress of Joshua Dowe of Coolroe (Co. Cork) and Clashenure (Cork), and had issue:
(1) Abraham Allen (d. 1767) of Balliduane (Cork); will proved 1767;
(2) Joshua Allen (1708-63) (q.v.);
(3) Kyrle Allen; married Alice Radley;
(4) Elizabeth Allen;
(5) Sarah Allen.
He inherited Clashenure on the death of his father-in-law in 1714.
He died in 1745, and his will was proved 23 May 1745.  His widow was living in 1752.

Allen, Commander Joshua (1708-63), of Clashenure.  Second son of Kyrle Allen (d. 1745) and his wife Susanna, daughter and heiress of Joshua Dowe of Coolroe and Clashenure, born 1708. Commander in the Navy.  He married about 22 January 1743, Christian Tresilian of Bandon (Co. Cork) and had issue:
(1) Kyrle Allen (1744-1808) (q.v.).
He inherited Clashenure from his father in 1745.
He died in 1763.

Allen, Kyrle (1744-1808), of Clashenure.  Only child of Joshua Allen (1708-63) and his wife Christian Tralilian of Bandon (Cork), born 1744.  He married 1st, Anne Cooper and had issue, all of whom died young, and he married 2nd, 1801, Margaret Armstrong, and 3rd, 8 May 1805, Ruth (d. c.1865), daughter of William Philpot of The Measle (Co. Kerry) and widow of Ulick Roche, and had issue:
(3.1) Kyrle Allen (1807-52);
(3.2) Jane Allen; married, 29 May 1829, Edward Fitzgerald Fitzgibbon, eldest son of Epinetus Fitzgibbon of Ahareenagh, and had issue five sons and one daughter.
He inherited Clashenure from his father in 1763.
He died in 1808, and his will was proved 7 December 1808.  His widow died about 1865.

Allen, Kyrle (1807-52), of Clashenure.  Only surviving son of Kyrle Allen (1744-1808) and his second wife, Ruth, daughter of William Philpot of The Meaualy (Co. Kerry) and widow of Ulick Roche, born 1807.  JP for Co. Cork.  He married, 5 February 1828, his cousin, Jane (d. 1866), eldest daughter of John Philpot of Clonribbon and had issue:
(1) Winifred Allen (c.1830-84); died unmarried, 4 October 1884, aged 54; will proved 6 November 1884 (estate £1,676);
(2) Kyrle Allen (c.1832-85); died unmarried, 26 December 1885, aged 53; will proved 10 February 1886 (estate £1,916);
(3) Alfred William Allen (1837-1917) (q.v.);
(4) Wilhelmina Allen; died young;
(5) Jane Allen; died young;
(6) Margaret Isabella Allen (d. 1894); died unmarried, 29 May 1894; will proved 21 June 1894 (estate £2,483).
He inherited Clashenure from his father in 1808 at the age of one and entered into his inheritance in 1828; the house was apparently rebuilt by his mother during his minority. At his death the estate passed to his eldest son and on his death in 1887 to his younger son.
He died in 1852 and his will was proved 16 September 1852.  His widow died in 1866.

Allen, Alfred William (1837-1917), of Clashenure.  Younger son of Kyrle Allen (1807-52) and his wife Jane, daughter of John Philpot of Clonribbon, born 15 November 1837.  JP for Co. Cork.  He married, 1867, Sarah Anne (c.1838-1908), daughter and heiress of John Philpot of Mount Zephyr (Co. Cork) and had issue:
(1) Anna Margaret Allen (1868-1902); born 31 August 1868; died unmarried, 1902;
(2) Victoria Allen (1870-1950), born 12 August 1870; died unmarried, February 1950, aged 79;
(3) Kyrle Allen (1872-1955) (q.v.);
(4) Flora Allen (1874-1960); died unmarried, 1960;
(5) Sarah Allen (1876-1964); died unmarried, 1964;
(6) Frederick Allen (b. & d. 1877); born and died, 14 April 1877.
He inherited Mount Zephyr from his father-in-law, and Clashenure from his elder brother in 1887.  
He died 18 January 1917.  His will was proved 28 January 1918.

Allen, Kyrle (1872-1955), of Clashenure. Only surviving son of Alfred William Allen (1837-1917) and his wife Sarah Anne, daughter and heiress of John Philpot of Mount Zephyr (Co. Cork), born 8 May 1872.  Educated at Royal University of Ireland (BA).  Served in WW1 as Captain in Royal Army Service Corps.  He married, 2 February 1922, Mary Susanna Doherty (d. c.1990), daughter of Thomas Wood Fitzgibbon JP of Innislings Abbey, Dripsey (Co. Cork) and had issue:
(1) Alfred Allen (b. 1925) (q.v.).
He inherited Clashenure from his father in 1917.
He died 25 October 1955.

Allen, Alfred (b. 1925), of Clashenure.  Only child of Kyrle Allen (1872-1955) and his wife Mary Susanna Doherty, daughter of Thomas Wood Fitzgibbon of Innislings Abbey, Dripsey (Co. Cork), born 24 January 1925.  Educated at Midleton College; writer and poet; author of Clashenure Skyline, 1971, Shades of a Rural Past, 1978, A mist in moonlight, 1992 and other works.  He married, 26 April 1950, Louise, daughter of Robert Cassidy of Cork, and had issue:
(1) Geraldine Mary Allen (b. 1951), born 15 April 1951; married James Camier and had issue two daughters;
(2) Louise Jennifer Allen (b. 1952), born 9 April 1952; married, 2 April 1970, David Gleasure of Knocknanay, Belgooly (Co. Cork) and had issue four sons.
(3) Kyrle Allen (b. 1954), born 20 January 1954; educated at Midleton College and University College, Cork; married Finnola Carey and had issue two sons and one daughter;
(4) Robert Michael Allen (b. 1955), born 29 September 1955; educated at Midleton College and University College, Cork; married Aileen Foley and had issue five daughters;
(5) Alfred Fitzgibbon Allen (b. 1959), born 6 June 1959; educated at Midleton College; director of Beecher Bearings Ltd., 1981-date and Allen & Hickey Ltd, 2004-date; married Siobhan Smiddy and had issue one son and one daughter (Vicky, who with her husband Dave Ahern, repurchased Clashenure in 2018).
He inherited Clashenure from his father in 1955.

Sources

Burke's Irish Family Records, 1976, pp. 17-18; Cork Examiner, 30 January 1862, p. 3; A. Allen, A mist in moonlight, 1992.

Location of archives

Allen family of Clashenure: deeds and papers, 1714-1850 [Private Collection. Enquiries to National Library of Ireland.]

Coat of arms

Argent, a pale surmounted with a chevron azure and charged with three cinquefoils of the second, all counterchanged. [Allen of Cork; depicted above]

Argent, two bars azure, a bend counterchanged, charged with three bezants, on a chief of the
second, an estoile between two escallops or.  [James Franklin Switham Allen, confirmed by Ulster King of Arms 1886]

Revision and acknowledgements

This account was first published 29 December 2013 and was revised 1 January 2014, 4 June 2015, 2-3 April 2020 and 1 April 2022. I am most grateful to Dave Ahern and Allen Millett for updated information and corrections.

(95) Allen of Bibsworth, Finchley

Allen of Bibsworth

Edward Allen (c.1563-1626), a fishmonger and alderman of London, bought the Bibsworth or Bibbesworth estate in Finchley in 1622 for £5,000.  His son, Sir Thomas Allen (1603-81), who was brought up as a gentleman, added the manor of Old Fold at South Mimms in 1639. Sir Thomas' grandson, Thomas Allen (c.1681-1764) replaced the medieval house with the present seven bay three storey early Georgian house in 1723, and it remained the property of his descendants to 1830.  On the death of a later Thomas Allen in that year, there was a Chancery suit between rival claimants to the estate, which was settled when the Rev. Edward Philip Cooper (d. 1864) bought out the interests of the other parties.  However during the 19th century the house was continuously let and the estate was gradually broken up: the South Mimms property was sold in 1841 and the Finchley estate was dissipated through piecemeal sales.  In 1905 the house was sold to William Gamage, owner of the London department store, and in 1919 it became a convent school.  It is now a Jewish community centre.

Bibsworth, Finchley, Middlesex

The manor house is first mentioned in 1253, but was probably substantially rebuilt in the 15th century for Lord Hastings.  In the early 16th century it was the 'great place of Bibbesworth' and in 1502 it comprised a chief messuage, orchard, and building within the moat and a great barn and long stable outside the moat.  It was the largest house in the parish in 1664, being assessed at nineteen hearths, and by 1692, when it figured in a dispute between two Allen widows, it had fishponds on the northern side of East End Road (later a formal canal and now filled in and built over) and extensive pleasure gardens.  The moated site of the old house can still just be discerned in the garden of the present house.

Bibsworth House, from an old postcard.

The present building was built for Thomas Allen c. 1723 north of the moated site. It is a large plain house of three storeys above a basement, seven bays by three and with the central bay stepped slightly forward; the entrance and garden sides are virtually identical. The interior has an unusual plan with four internal chimney stacks; the panelled entrance hall contains the original oak staircase with twisted balusters and fluted Corinthian newels. The adjacent three-bay reception room has plaster decoration on the walls and ceiling which may date from the early 20th century, at about which time a billiards room was added to the north-west.  Upstairs are rooms with plain panelling on either side of a central corridor with pilasters. Since 1919 a chapel and classrooms have been built on the north-west and an attic storey has been added to the main block. An Ionic garden temple was removed to Surrey c. 1970.

The house (sometimes known alternatively as Maher House or Finchley House) was replaced as the principal residence on the estate when Edward Cooper built Avenue House nearby in 1859; Bibsworth passed to his sisters, but continued to be leased, as it had been since the early 19th century.  It was used as a boys' school under William Fanning (1819-37) and Dr. Henry Worsley (1838-57). Miss Lucy Worsley was in occupation in 1859 and Miss H. Legeyt, who ran it as a girls' school, in 1862. In 1863 it was leased with 23 a. to George Plucknett, a magistrate who often heard cases in the hall of the house. Between 1882 and 1887 the lease passed to William Pearce Jones, who surrendered it c. 1905.

The estate was gradually sold off in the 19th century.  In 1909, E. C. Arden sold most of the remaining land for building and The Express Dairy bought Sheephouse or College Farm. William Gamage (of the department store) bought the house with 29 a. in 1905 and sold it in 1919 to the convent of Marie Auxiliatrice.  The convent carried out the 20th century extensions, and in 1984 the house became the Sternberg Centre for Judaism, which it remains today.

Descent: sold 1622 to Edward Allen (d. 1625); to son, Sir Thomas Allen, kt. (d. 1681); to son, Edward Allen (d. 1692); to nephew, Thomas Allen (d. 1764); to son, Edward Allen (d. 1774); to brother, Thomas Greenhalgh (later Allen) (d. 1780); to son, Edward Allen (d. 1830), who let it; after legal dispute among potential heirs, to Rev. Edward Philip Cooper (d. 1864); to daughters, Edith Cassandra Cooper (d. 1888) and Sophia Mary Leigh (d. 1888), wife of Frederick A.H. Fitzgerald; to cousin, Albert Henry Arden (d. 1897); to son, Edward Cooper Arden, who sold 1905 to William Gamage, who sold 1919 to Convent of Marie Auxiliatrice; sold 1984 to Sternberg Centre for Judaism.

Allen family of Bibsworth

The genealogical details below have been largely constructed from research in parish registers and wills. There are some obvious gaps, and I should be particularly grateful to anyone who provides additional information to strengthen the rather thin account given below.

Allen, Edward (1571-1626) of Bibsworth.  Third son of Thomas Allen (d. 1584), haberdasher of London, and his wife Joan Woodgate, born 1571. Linen draper of Bread St., London, and an early investor in the East India Company. He joined the Fishmongers Company (Prime Warden, 1620) and became an alderman of London and Sheriff of London, 1620-21.  A governor of Christ's Hospital, London. He married 1st, 30 August 1600, Elizabeth (1584-1605), daughter of William Bennett of London, fishmonger, and 2nd, Ellen (d. 1654), daughter of Richard Poyntell, and had issue:
(1.1) Elizabeth Allen (1602-43), baptised at St Margaret Moses, London, 25 April 1602; married, 1 June 1624, Sir Richard Lee, 2nd bt. (c.1600-60) of Langley, Acton Burnell (Shropshire) and had issue four sons and six daughters; buried at Acton Burnell, 31 August 1643;
(1.2) Sir Thomas Allen (1603-81), kt. (q.v.);
(1.3) Mary Allen (1605-78), baptised 5 May 1605; married, 29 May 1627, as his second wife, Sir Martin Lumley, bt. and had issue three sons and one daughter; buried at Great Bardfield (Essex), 2 October 1678.
(2.1) Helen (or Ellen) Allen (1606-1678), baptised 28 December 1606; married Sir Heneage Proby (1600-67) and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 12 June 1678 aged 72;
(2.2) Martha Allen (1608-37) of Enfield, baptised 2 October 1608; died unmarried; will proved 13 July 1637;
(2.3) Bridget Allen (1609-25), baptised 10 December 1609; died unmarried and was buried 21 November 1625;
(2.4) Sarah Allen (1610-15), baptised 24 March 1609/10; died young and was buried 31 August 1615.
He purchased the Bibsworth estate in Finchley (Middx) in 1622 for £5,000, and invested in other local properties later in the 1620s.
He was buried at St Mary le Bow, London, 25 April 1626.  His first wife was buried 23 May 1605 at St Mary le Bow, London.  His widow married 2nd, 1629, Sir Thomas Trevor, and died 1654.

Allen, Sir Thomas (1603-81), kt, of Bibsworth.  Son of Edward Allen (d. 1626) and his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Bennett of London, fishmonger, baptised at St. Margaret Moses, London, 24 April 1603. Educated at Grays Inn, 1618-26 and St. John's College, Oxford (matriculated 1619; BA 1622; MA 1626); member of the East India Company; Governor of Barnet Grammar School, 1634-81 and Cholmeley's School, Highgate, 1653-81; knighted, 26 March 1639.  He was a Royalist but not in arms during the Civil War, and his estate was sequestrated but returned to him on payment of a fine of £1000 in 1645; he was one of those loyal to the Crown who was proposed for the putative Order of the Royal Oak, 1660. JP and DL for Middlesex, 1660-81; MP for Middlesex, 1661-79, in which capacity he was consistently of the Court party; Commissioner for Recusants in Middlesex, 1675. He married, 1627, Mary (d. 1664), second daughter of Sir John Weld (d. 1622) of Arnolds, Southgate (Middx), and had issue:
(1) Mary Allen (b. 1628; fl. 1675), baptised 11 September 1628; living in 1675;
(2) Elizabeth Allen (d. 1640), buried 16 July 1640;
(3) Thomas Allen (b. 1630), baptised 2 April 1630; apprenticed to a London fishmonger; died before 1681;
(4) Edward Allen (1631-92) (q.v.);
(5) Martha Allen (b. c.1632; d. before 1680), baptised 31 January 1632/33; married at Finchley, Philip Storey of Cambridgeshire, and had issue;
(6) John Allen (b. 1634; fl. 1675), baptised 3 September 1634; apprenticed to a London skinner and merchant adventurer;
(7) Frances Allen (d. 1675); married 21 July 1658 at Finchley, John Tighe (d. 1663) esq. of Carlby (Lincs); died 1675 and will proved, 7 September 1675;
(8) Dorothea Allen (1638-62), baptised 2 October 1638; married, 11 December 1660 at Finchley, George Delaune of London, Hamburg merchant, and had issue one son; died in a house fire in Lothbury mentioned by Pepys, with her whole family, 29 December 1662;
(9) James Allen (1640-90) (q.v.)
(10) Anne Allen (b. c.1641; fl. 1675), baptised 3 February 1631/2; married, 1659 at Finchley, John Pulford of Tottenham High Cross;
(11) Richard Allen (1643-65), baptised 21 June 1643; died (probably of the plague), 1665;
(12) Charles Allen (c.1644-1703), baptised 6 January 1644/5; buried at Finchley, 30 December 1703; will proved 5 January 1704;
(13) Elizabeth Allen (b. 1647), baptised May 1647; married John Rogers;
(14) Sarah Allen (b. c.1651), baptised 24 February 1651/2; married, 26 January 1668/69, Samuel Waldo (c.1641-98) and had issue five sons and five daughters.
(15) Rachael Allen (fl. 1675); married Mr. Tuson.
He inherited the Bibsworth estate from his father in 1625. In 1630 he inherited property in London from his father's older brother, Thomas, and he purchased the manor of Old Fold in South Mimms in 1639, which thereafter descended with Bibsworth until 1841. From the 1650s he leased Dorchester House in Westminster.
He died 18 August 1681 and was buried at Finchley church, where he is commemorated by a fine Baroque monument.  His will was proved 1 September 1681. His wife was buried 11 February 1663/4.

Allen, Edward (1631-92), of Bibsworth.  Elder son of Sir Thomas Allen (d. 1681), kt. and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir John Weld of Arnolds, Southgate (Middx), baptised at Finchley, 25 August 1631.  Apprenticed to a London merchant. Immediately after the death of his father he seized £500 belonging to his brother James stored in the manor house at Bibsworth, resulting in a lawsuit; he was also in dispute with his brother Charles. He married at St Bartholomew the Great, London, 5 January 1674/5, Elizabeth (d. 1708), daughter of Charles Cornwallis, and had issue:
(1) Mary Allen (d. 1758); married, before 1698, Oliver Corr (d. 1741) of London, merchant and had issue one son, Allen Heart (d. 1775);
(2) Elizabeth Allen (d. 1760); married, March 1695?, Edward Dryden (c.1668-1717), grocer of London and Canons Ashby (Northants) and nephew of the poet, John Dryden, and had issue five sons and three daughters;
(3) Rachael Allen (fl. 1706); married Gerard Puleston and had issue;
(4) Frances Allen (fl. 1692);
(5) Edward Allen (b. & d. 1683), baptised 25 October 1683; died in infancy;
(6) Anne Allen (b. 1684), baptised 12 October 1684;
(7) Philippa Allen (1686-1772); baptised 11 April 1686; married 24 April 1705, John Rooper of Berkhamstead Castle and Bloomsbury, Deputy Cofferer of the Household to Queen Anne, and had issue; died at Oxford, 19 February 1772;
He inherited the Bibsworth estate from his father in 1681.  At his death it passed to Thomas, the son of his younger brother, James Allen (d. 1690).
He died in September 1692. His will was proved 15 October 1692.  His widow moved to Muswell Hill and was buried at Finchley, 2 January 1708/9.

Allen, James (1640-91), of Hornsey.  Younger son of Sir Thomas Allen (d. 1681), kt. and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir John Weld of Arnolds, Southgate (Middx), baptised at Finchley, 19 June 1640.  Apprenticed to a London draper and merchant adventurer. He seems to have accumulated significant debts by the late 1680s. He married, about 18 May 1680, Elizabeth (d. 1704), daughter of Stephen Thompson of Spitalfields, Turkey merchant, and widow of John Barnes of Crouch End, Hornsey (Middx), and had issue:
(1) Mary Allen (b. 1681), baptised 17 March 1680/1;
(2) Thomas Allen (1682-1764) (q.v.);
(3) James Allen otherwise Alleyn (1683-1746) of Dorchester House, Westminster, born 4 May 1683; clerk to his half-brother, Thomas Barnes, in Cursitors Hall, 1701-12; Cursitor for Sussex and Worcestershire; Warden of Dulwich College, 1712-21 and Master, 1721-46; died unmarried, 28 October 1746 and was buried in Dulwich College chapel;
(4) Elizabeth Allen (1684-1759), baptised 19 June 1684; in 1703 she went to Scotland as companion to Rebecca, Lady Pitsligo, and after she died, Elizabeth married (in 1731) her widower, Alexander Forbes (1678-1762), 4th Baron Forbes of Pitsligo, who was active in the Jacobite cause in both 1715 and 1745 and who was attainted, 1746; died 1759;
(5) Anne Allen (b. 1687), baptised 24 November 1687; married William Greenhalgh of Myerscough Hall (Lancs).
He inherited the lease of Dorchester House, Westminster from his father. After his marriage he settled in Hornsey, until in 1688 he and his family moved to a lodge in Cowdray Park (Sussex). He also purchased land at Hayes (Middx), where his father also owned 300 acres.
He died in a drowning accident and was buried at Easebourne (Sussex), 21 February 1691, and his will was proved 12 May 1691.  His widow moved back to Dorchester House, Westminster and married 3rd, c.1692/3, Rev. Francis Salisbury (d. 1697), formerly vicar of South Harting (Sussex), a non-juring High Anglican who was constantly under suspicion for his crypto-Catholic and Jacobite views, and who was eventually executed for fraud, 3 November 1697; her will was proved 4 July 1704.

Allen, Thomas (1682-1764), of Bibsworth.  Son of James Allen (d. 1690) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen Thompson of Spitalfields and widow of John Barnes of Crouch End, Hornsey (Middx), baptised 23 February 1681/2.  He married, 6 July 1708 at St Clement Danes, London, Martha (d. 1755), daughter of Edward Noel of the Inner Temple and had issue:
(1) Edward Allen (d. 1774) (q.v.);
(2) Thomas Allen (né Allen, then Greenhalgh) (d. 1780) (q.v.)
He inherited the Bibsworth estate from his uncle, Edward Allen, in 1692.  He expanded the estate and rebuilt the house in 1723.
He died and was buried at Finchley, 19 April 1764.  His will was proved 16 April 1764.  His wife was buried at Finchley, 16 April 1755.

Allen, Edward (d. 1774), of Bibsworth.  Elder son of Thomas Allen (c.1681-1764).  He was unmarried and without issue.
He inherited the Bibsworth estate from his father in 1764.
He died and was buried at Finchley, 9 February 1774.  His will was proved 17 February 1774.

Allen (né Allen, then Greenhalgh), Thomas (d. 1780). Younger son of Thomas Allen (c.1681-1764).  Educated at Grays Inn (Bencher, 1756; Treasurer, 1777). He changed his name to Greenhalgh and in 1774 reverted to Allen on inheriting the Bibsworth estate.  He married, 5 June 1753 at Grays Inn Chapel, Anne (d. 1796), widow of John Edwards junior of Highgate, and had issue:
(1) Thomas Allen (d. 1830) (q.v.).
He inherited Myerscough Hall (Lancs) from his uncle by marriage, William Greenhalgh in 1742; this legacy became void when he inherited the Bibsworth estate from his elder brother in 1774.  From 1775 he lived at 11 Henrietta Place, Henrietta Street, London; the drawing room of this house is now in the V&A Museum.
He was buried at Finchley, 26 April 1780; his will was proved 2 May 1780. His widow died in 1796.

Allen, Thomas (d. 1830).  Son of Thomas Allen (d. 1780), and his wife Anne, widow of John Edwards junior of Highgate.  Landowner and property developer. He was unmarried and died childless, but may have had a relationship with his servant, Rosetta Exall, to whom he left £7,000 for life or until her marriage.
He inherited the Bibsworth estate from his father in 1780 but let it to John Trotter and later to William Fanning, and lived in Henrietta St., Cavendish Sq., London.  After his death the ownership of the estate was disputed between rival claimants, but one of them, Rev. Edward Philip Cooper (d. 1864) bought out the interests of the others.
He died and was buried at Finchley, 15 April 1830, where he is commemorated by a monument; his will was proved in April 1830 (effects under £500,000).

Sources

VCH Middlesex, vol. 6, 1980, pp. 55-59; M.A. Wren & P. Hackett, James Allen: a portrait enlarged, 1968; B. Cherry and Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: London 4 - North, 1998, p.124; http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/allen-sir-thomas-1603-81.

Location of archives

Allen-Cooper family of Bibsworth: records, 1458-1895 [London Metropolitan Archives, ACC/0351]

Coat of arms

Per fesse gules and sable, a chevron rompu between three griffins' heads erased ermine.

Revision & Acknowledgements

This post was first published on 27 December 2013 and was updated 3 April 2015, 20 October 2018 and 25 July 2021. I am grateful to Layle for additional information and to Peter McCallum for a correction.