Allen family - letters received from Herbert Allen and John Woolley Allen, 1880-1894

MLMSS 6158

fonds

1880-1894

126804

1 box - 0.17 Meters
Textual Records - (manuscript)

Herbert Allen and John Woolley Allen were sons of Sir George Wigram Allen (1824-1885) and Lady Marian Allen (nee Boyce). Their grandfather was George Allen (1800-1877), who was born in England and arrived in Sydney in 1816. George Allen was articled to Frederick Garling in 1817 and was admitted as a solicitor in July 1822, the first solicitor to receive his legal training in the Colony. He founded the oldest legal firm in Australia. In 1847 he took his son George Wigram into partnership, calling the firm Allen & Son. When George Allen retired in 1855, George Wigram Allen brought other family members into the partnership. Herbert Allen studied law at Cambridge and was admitted as a solicitor in 1891. He then became a partner in the firm. In 1894, the name of the firm changed to Allen, Allen & Hemsley.

The collection comprises 195 letters sent mainly from England and the Continent, 181 of which were written by Herbert Allen, 13 by his brother John Woolley Allen and 1 by Edward Meyrick. The recipients of the letters were all members of the Allen family, mainly Lady Marian Allen, but also Sir George Wigram Allen, sisters Ethel, Ida and Mabel, brothers Boyce, Squito, Rex and Arthur, and grandfather. The letters describe the brothers' views of family members and friends living in England, travel in England and on the Continent, their student days at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and life in London after their studies.

Chronological