Allen Henry Philip Stoneham (1856 - ) sportsman and businessman, was a son of Allen Stoneham, Financial Secretary of the Board of Trade. He was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , special ...

and at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

. In his youth he was a prominent athlete, gaining many L.A.C. and other prizes. He won the Civil Service Quarter Mile Handicap. He also played rugby for the

Queen's House Queen's House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 near Greenwich Palace, a few miles down-river from the City of London and now in the London Borough of Greenwich. It presently forms a central focus of what is now the Old Ro ...

, one of the twenty-one original members of the Rugby Football Union. Stoneham was responsible for the introduction of

electric tramway A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s into

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and was the donor of the statue of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

to the City of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

W.A. In 1902, Stoneham and

John Robinson Whitley John Robinson Whitley, (13 December 1843, Leeds – 22 March 1922, Condette, France) was a British entrepreneur who inaugurated the Earl's Court Exhibition Grounds in West London in 1887. After four major exhibitions on the site (1887–1892), ...

(1843-1922) bought land in Northern France, through their company ''Le Touquet Syndicate Ltd.'', and were instrumental in developing the town into the golf and gambling resort at

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (; pcd, Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache; vls, 't Oekske, older nl, Het Hoekske), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a population of ...

. From 1902 until his death in 1927, he devoted himself to the development of the town. After the outbreak of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he offered the domain of Le Touquet for the use of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. For his services he was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. Family life His first marriage was with Jane Harley Cowie born in 1853 in Scotland. They had 3 daughters born in Surbiton Irene in 1884 , Linda in 1886 and Phyllis in 1889. His wife's brother John James Milroy Cowie was a famous sprinter in the early 1880s winning the AAA 100yards and 400yards and breaking the 220 yard world record in 1883. His son in law was Roland Clive Wallace Burn (married to Phyllis) He married again, after the death of his first wife in 1899, to Florence Marie Louise born in Montreal Canada. They had two children, Donald and Vincent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoneham, Allen 1856 births 1927 deaths Alumni of the University of London English rugby union players