Publications
The Allens of Lindfield, by F. W. T. Attree, Lieut., R.E., published 1880 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 30, notes & queries, pp.247-250) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2115] & The Keep [LIB/500248] & S.A.S. library View Online
A Notice of Rev John Allin, Vicar of Rye, AD 1653-1662; an Ejected Minister, by Dr Thomas William Wake Smart, M.D., published 1881 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 31, article, pp.123-156) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2116] & The Keep [LIB/500249] & S.A.S. library View Online
Sussex and the U.S.A., 2nd series. 9 - Rev. John Allin, Graduate of Harvard and Vicar of Rye, by David McLean, published 1931 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. V no. 12, article, pp.822-826) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2310] & The Keep [LIB/500174]
William Allen: Lindfield Philanthropist, by Reginald Perry, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 11, article, pp.708-712) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500180]
William Allen, 1770-1843, member of the Society of Friends, by Helena Hall, published 1953 (Haywards Heath: Charles Clarke) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2954] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review by F. B. S. [F. B. Stevens] in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1955:Many of us who are familiar with Lindfield and its surroundings were vaguely aware that a Quaker named Allen had been responsible for a colony of smallholders which came to be known as "America" - and incidentally gave its name to New England Road, Haywards Heath. But until the recent publication of this book by our member Miss Helena Hall few of us realised the wide scope of his work at Lindfield, and the prominent part he played in national and international affairs.
In her most interesting life of Allen Miss Hall naturally devotes much of her space to his eight continental journeys, his frequent meetings with the Emperor Alexander of Russia, his intimate concern with the financial embarrassments of the Duke of Kent (but for his timely aid Queen Victoria would probably have been born in Germany), his contacts with the Duke of Wellington, and his founding of the firm of Allen and Hanbury. The book, however, has a special interest for Sussex readers by reason of the account given of the founding of an industrial school and the "Colony" at Lindfield. Miss Hall tells how when William Allen first came to Lindfield in 1824 he found a village with no school, and much poverty and bad housing. With the assistance of the Earl of Chichester, the Lord of the Manor, he set up an "industrial" school, where the curriculum included much practical work, such as farm work and printing for boys, weaving, spinning and knitting for girls, and straw plaiting for infants.
In the formation of the colony Allen was helped by Lord Chichester and also by John Smith, M.P., of Dale Park, Madehurst, who purchased the Gravelye Estate of a hundred acres. Upon it were built 18 cottages for labourers, each with an acre and a quarter of garden, and seven cottages for smallholders, each with six acres of land attached. Allen also built a house for himself on the estate where he lived - apart from his frequent journeyings - until he died there in 1843.
The "colony" was still a feature of the district in the early years of the present century, but has now unfortunately been almost obliterated by building developments. Two of the smallholders cottages, however, are still standing. The School was maintained until 1881, when a School Board was established for the parish and a new school erected. The actual school no longer exists, but the dormitories and workshops have been more fortunate and the cottages into which they have been converted are still a pleasing feature on the north of the road at the western end of the Common.
Miss Hall is to be congratulated on her narrative of the life and work of one who may rightly be regarded as a "Sussex Worthy."
In her most interesting life of Allen Miss Hall naturally devotes much of her space to his eight continental journeys, his frequent meetings with the Emperor Alexander of Russia, his intimate concern with the financial embarrassments of the Duke of Kent (but for his timely aid Queen Victoria would probably have been born in Germany), his contacts with the Duke of Wellington, and his founding of the firm of Allen and Hanbury. The book, however, has a special interest for Sussex readers by reason of the account given of the founding of an industrial school and the "Colony" at Lindfield. Miss Hall tells how when William Allen first came to Lindfield in 1824 he found a village with no school, and much poverty and bad housing. With the assistance of the Earl of Chichester, the Lord of the Manor, he set up an "industrial" school, where the curriculum included much practical work, such as farm work and printing for boys, weaving, spinning and knitting for girls, and straw plaiting for infants.
In the formation of the colony Allen was helped by Lord Chichester and also by John Smith, M.P., of Dale Park, Madehurst, who purchased the Gravelye Estate of a hundred acres. Upon it were built 18 cottages for labourers, each with an acre and a quarter of garden, and seven cottages for smallholders, each with six acres of land attached. Allen also built a house for himself on the estate where he lived - apart from his frequent journeyings - until he died there in 1843.
The "colony" was still a feature of the district in the early years of the present century, but has now unfortunately been almost obliterated by building developments. Two of the smallholders cottages, however, are still standing. The School was maintained until 1881, when a School Board was established for the parish and a new school erected. The actual school no longer exists, but the dormitories and workshops have been more fortunate and the cottages into which they have been converted are still a pleasing feature on the north of the road at the western end of the Common.
Miss Hall is to be congratulated on her narrative of the life and work of one who may rightly be regarded as a "Sussex Worthy."
William Allen, Quaker Friend of Lindfield 1770-1843, by Margaret Nicolle, published 16 November 2001 (152 pp., published by the author, ISBN-10: 0954130103 & ISBN-13: 9780954130107) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14889][Lib 14585] & The Keep [LIB/503737] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:An interesting account of William Allen's fascinating life. Over a third of this book is devoted to his Lindfield connections, the cottage allotments scheme on the Gravely's estate and his founding of local schools for the children of agricultural labourers. William Allen's Quakerism influenced everything he did. From humble beginnings he became a member of the Royal Society and the first president of the Phamaceutical Society. He was an educational pioneer, an opponent of the slave trade and a friend of the Emperor of Russia.
Percival Allen FRS and the Wealden of southern England, by Jonathan D. Radley, published 18 October 2014 in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (vol. 113, issue 3, article, pp.677-693) View Online
Abstract:Percival ('Perce') Allen's lifelong research into Wealden sedimentology and palaeoenvironments (published 1938-2012) is summarized. His initial investigations, principally into the lower Wealden Hastings Group, led to publication of a deltaic model in 1959 involving eustatically controlled lithofacies architecture. This model was eventually replaced by a revised version in which alluvial fan construction was linked to uplift of source massifs. Today, the revised model and its subsequent refinements form the basis of southern English Wealden palaeoenvironmental interpretation, applicable to both the Weald and Wessex sub-basins in southern England. In later years, Percival Allen took a leading role in Wealden geoconservation, identifying and documenting Geological Conservation Review sites as vouchers for Wealden stratigraphy, palaeobiology, sedimentary processes and palaeoenvironments. A previously unpublished report written by Percival Allen is presented: an account of an excursion to Philpots Quarry, West Sussex, south-east England