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View Tree for John AllenJohn Allen (b. 09 January 1826, d. 14 May 1915)

John Allen was born 09 January 1826 in ORKNEY ISLANDS,SCOTLAND., and died 14 May 1915 in AUBURN,STH AUSTRALIA.. He married (1) Elizabeth Allan Sinclair on 07 December 1848 in EDAY & PHARAY,ORKNEY ISLANDS,SCOTLAND.. He married (2) Jane Richardson on 19 December 1868 in RES OF REV J ROCK,AUBURN,STH AUSTRALIA.. He married (3) Mary Hester on 02 September 1874 in KOORINGA MANSE,STH AUSTRALIA..

 Includes NotesNotes for John Allen:
THE HISTORY OF THE ALLAN FAMILY as traced by Dean Fleet.


It is thought that my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandmother Christine Sinclair of the Sinclair Clan, whose history is traced back for a thousand years, is believed to be direct descendants of the vikings. One of whom was an earl and owner of Castle Sinclair in the ORKNEYS, it is reported that he held a grudge against his son, and locked him in the dungeon of the castle and fed him on bread and fish for many years. It is thought that the clan came from Margarets Hope, South Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland.
Christine Sinclair 's daughter Rebecca, aged 46, and her son John Allan, and his family, his wife Elizabeth (Betsy), aged 26, same age as her husband John, and their two sons John, aged 2, and the infant James (born in 1851 before they migrated) they sailed from Plymouth, England, in the ship " Caucasian " on the 11 th November 1851, and they arrived in South Australia on the 8 th Febuary 1852. On the same ship was his brother James with his family, his wife and two daughters, Rebecca 19, and Christina 15. Unfortunately James' wife died on the voyage, James left the ship at Melbourne, but the girls continued on to Holdfast Bay, with the rest of the family.
James later came from Melbourne and re-joined the family which had settled at Auburn, South Australia. Two sisters of John (senior) and James (senior) were also in the family group on board the " Caucasian ", they also were named Rebecca and Christina and went on to New Zealand.
Rebecca married a Mr Ferguson who held a responsible post in the Public Service.
Christina married the Mr Massey who became Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Great, Great, Grandfather John Allan later took up Section 411 in the early 1860s and began farming his land , later he sold the land , and took up Sections 722 and 720 of Upper Wakefield at Auburn, where he became District Councillor. He was married three times and is buried at the same plot in the Auburn Cemetery as are his wives. There is a low metal fence around the graves, but no headstones. His second wife was Jane Richardson, 35, spinster. They were married in the residence of the Rev. J. Rock at Auburn on 14 th December 1868.
Jane who was illiterate, was buried on 4 th may 1874, aged 40 years. His third wife was Mary Williams, 35, widow. They were married in the Bible Christian Mense, Kooringa. She was buried on 10 th October 1911, aged 71 years.
John Allan was buried on 14 th May 1915, aged 89 years.
It is here that the spelling of Allan was changed to Allen, some opinion has it that it was accidently done by an official clerk, or that it was done by his second wife.(this seems unlikely if she was illiterate.)
Additions to John Allans family besides the two little boys John and James were Peter and three girls ; Mrs Hunt of Unley, Mrs J Guthrie of Watervale,and Mrs Monroe of Murray Bridge. He also had children by his other wives.
Great, Great, Great Grandmother Rebecca Allans' son John Allan gave his second son James the infant who was born in 1851 prior to migrating to Australia, settled at Auburn, a horse and dray ( quite a gift in those days) and was told to do the best he could for himself. He went to Moonta - Wallaroo -Penang and Cunliffe areas as there was plenty of work available there in grubbing and carting firewood to the copper mines
He brought Sections 1036 and 1040 comprising of 521 acres at Cunliffe, of an assessed value of 62 pounds-10-0 and annual rates of 15/8 from a Mr Emerson of Moonta, who foreclosed a mortgage he held over the land which had been occupied by a Mr Jacka.
Great, Grandfather James Allen married Emily Scoble, daughter of John Scoble. Both families lived in the Auburn district when young.
They had 12 children, two boys and ten girls :
1. Maud : married Joesph Brealy, underground manager at the Junction Mine, Broken Hill,where they lived. They had ten children ; Violet, Harry and Jack (twins), Frank, Pat, Russell, Connie, Dick (Leslie),Molly and Lena.
2. Gret : married Stan Freeman of Kadina, he died while quite young. They had two children ;Emily and Melva (Duckie).
3. Catherine: married Jack Morgan, farmer. They had five children ; Maxwell, Rex and allan (twins), Lewis, and Ray.
4.Nell ; married Frank Pennell, dentist,Kadina.They had two children Bronte and Brett.
5. Ida : married Carl Thomas, carpenter, Moonta Mines and Moonta. They had two children ; Maureen and Paul.
6. Elizabeth : married Spencer Williams, They had three children ; Ken, Hugh and Don.
7. Birdie : married Les Ward, farmer,hotel - keeper, no children.
8. Pearl : married Percy Scott, hotel - keeper died in child birth.
9. Richard William ( Dick ) : married Fanny Bald. They had ten children ; Nancy, Horace, Rex, Hugh, Dulcie, Phyllis, Jack, Ruth, Peter and my mother Joyce.
10. Mary : married Authur Kelton, barber. They had six children ; Ross, Lance, Gwen, Bruce, Geoffrey,and John.
11. Hugh : married. One child ; Beckie ( Mrs Osborn ). Hugh died in Victoria when quite young probably at 24 years of age,but under 30.
12 Beckie : Died as a young woman.


1914 Onwards.

Great Grandfather James Allan in 1914, made the land over to Richard. W. Allan who had to pay 150 pounds to each of his nine surviving sisters as their share of the property. Great, Grandfather Allan then went for a tour of the eastern states and settled at Portland for a while.
When his health began to fail (about six months before his death ) he returned to Adelaide and lived with his sister, Mrs Hunt, at Unley, where he died of a mysterious complaint. His body was taken by train to Kadina, where he is buried. He died on 3 rd July 1916, aged 65 years.
His grave is in Block 40, Path 14, next to his wife Emily, buried in Block 39, Path 14, she died on 9 th November 1900.
Rev Roberts did the service for James and Rev John Collins did the service for Emily Allan.

My Grandfather Richard William Allen sold the Cunliffe farm in 1936, and in an endeavour to obtain a larger property inspected land in Western Australia but was disappointed in what he saw there. He took over a run -down farm at Wynarka in the Murray Mallee, but the return from his first harvest was insufficient to meet his financial obligations and he was callously forced to leave. Others who attempted to work this farm had suffered a similar fate.
It was the owners practice to accept a deposit and remove anyone who defaulted in a payment. My Grandfather lost heavily in this venture, he took another farm at Yumali on the Adelaide - Melbourne rail line, which he left in going to live in Murray Bridge, where he worked at the butter factory, then at the council for awhile. Later he took employment with the Barley Board and finally at the Salt Works at Longhorne Creek, he died of a Heart Attack on 24 th November 1950, aged 63 years.
My Grandmother Fanny continued to live in Murray Bridge until she died on 9 th August 1974. She is buried with her husband in the Murray Bridge Cemetery.

More About John Allen:
Time at Birth: 12 March 1826, CHRISTENED AT ORKNEY,EDAY-PHARAY..

More About John Allen and Elizabeth Allan Sinclair:
Marriage: 07 December 1848, EDAY & PHARAY,ORKNEY ISLANDS,SCOTLAND..

More About John Allen and Jane Richardson:
Marriage: 19 December 1868, RES OF REV J ROCK,AUBURN,STH AUSTRALIA..

More About John Allen and Mary Hester:
Marriage: 02 September 1874, KOORINGA MANSE,STH AUSTRALIA..

Children of John Allen and Elizabeth Allan Sinclair are:
  1. +James Allen, b. Abt. 1851, ORKNEY EDAY/PHARAH,SCOTLAND., d. 30 June 1916, UNLEY,ADELAIDE,S.A..
  2. +Margaret Allen, b. 12 March 1855, CANONALLY,STH AUSTRALIA..
  3. +John Sinclair Allen, b. 13 October 1857, CLARE,STH AUSTRALIA, d., KADINA,STH AUSTRALIA..
  4. +Elizabeth Allen, b. 21 July 1862, UPPER WAKEFIELD,CLARE DIST,STH AUSTRALIA.
  5. +Thomas Peter Allen, b. Abt. 1854, UPPER WAKEFIELD,AUBURN,STH AUSTRALIA., d. 22 October 1925, PARLIMENT HOUSE,ADELAIDE,S.A..

Children of John Allen and Mary Hester are:
  1. +William Thomas Allen, b. 11 June 1875, BRAESIDE HOMESTEAD, AUBURN,STH AUSTRALIA., d. 16 June 1954, AUBURN,STH AUSTRALIA..
  2. Mary Allen, b. 12 December 1878, AUBURN,STH AUSTRALIA., d. 25 December 1949, ADELAIDE,STH AUSTRALIA..
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