Author: Allen, William
Biography:
ALLEN, William (1729-1811: ancestry.co.uk)
He was a younger son of Carter Allen (b 1700), an attorney with premises in Clement's Lane, London, and his wife Emma Hay or Hays. They had married in Apr. 1724 and William was baptised at St. Edmund the King with St. Nicholas Acons church in the City of London on 24 July 1729. His elder brother was John Carter Allen (1724-1800) who became Admiral of the White and was the grandfather of another and more infamous John Carter Allen (q.v.). William Allen was elected Warden of Dulwich College in July 1775; at the time he was said to be “of Lord Dartmouth’s office” which presumably meant he was employed there. (At the time the Warden and Master of Dulwich College, founded by Edward Alleyn, were required to be named Allen or Alleyn.) On 20 July 1805 he became Master of the College and he served in that role until his death on 13 Apr. 1811. His will, signed on 21 Mar. 1811, left instructions that the mourning and funeral rites prescribed for the master of Dulwich College were to be followed, and twelve bottles of wine with "twelve pounds of cake" were to be provided. Specific bequests were left to his sister, Mrs Emma Swanton, her daughter Frances, and his housekeeper Ann Longstaff. His nephew Thomas, father of the later John Carter Allen, was given William's gold watch--likely the same watch that William had in his turn inherited from Admiral John Carter Allen. The will was proved on 8 May 1811. (William Young, The History of Dulwich College [1889]; ancestry.co.uk 4 Mar. 2024; National Archives UK PROB 11/1521/487; contributions from JC) SR