Ebenezer "Eben" Allen (15 November 1868 – 20 May 1931) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a member of the
Legislative Assembly of
Western Australia from 1911 to 1917, representing the
seat of West Perth.
Allen was born in
Adelaide,
South Australia, to Mary Selina (née Cant) and Joseph Allen. He attended Glenelg Grammar School (run by
F. I. Caterer
Thomas Caterer (31 July 1825 – c. 4 January 1917) was a pioneer schoolteacher of Adelaide, South Australia who founded in 1862 a private school for boys which in 1866 became Norwood Grammar School.
His brother, Frederick Isaac Caterer (c. 1840 ...
), and after leaving school worked for various Adelaide firms. Allen married Effie Marian Conigrave in 1895 (with whom he later had two children), and in 1899 moved to Western Australia to work for her father,
J. Fairfax Conigrave. He eventually went into business on his own, as an auctioneer, real estate agent, and shipping agent. He became secretary of the
Perth Chamber of Commerce, and was also a director of a local
building society. Allen served on the
Perth City Council
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 is ...
from 1904 to 1912 and again from 1915 to 1918. He first ran for parliament at the 1908
Legislative Council elections, but lost to
Arthur Jenkins in
Metropolitan Province.
[Ebenezer Allen](_blank)
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
At the
1911 state election, Allen was elected to parliament running for the newly formed
Liberal Party. He replaced the retiring member in West Perth,
Thomas Draper
Thomas Percy Draper CBE KC (29 December 1864 – 11 July 1946) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1907 to 1911 and again from 1917 to 1921, and was attorney-g ...
. Allen was re-elected at the
1914 election, but at the
1917 election was opposed by Draper, who had decided he wished to resume his parliamentary career. Both he and Draper stood for the
Nationalist Party, which had been created earlier in the year, but Draper was more popular, winning back his former seat with 53.3 percent of the
first-preference vote. Allen recontested West Perth at the
1921 election, but polled only the third-highest number of votes. Draper lost his seat regardless, with the winning candidate,
Edith Cowan, becoming the first female member of parliament in Australia.
Allen died in Perth in May 1931, aged 62. He killed himself with a gunshot to the head on the
Perth Esplanade, having had business troubles and been in poor physical health.
"MR. EBEN ALLEN'S DEATH."
'' The West Australian'', 6 June 1931.
References
1868 births
1931 suicides
Businesspeople from Western Australia
Australian politicians who committed suicide
Deaths by firearm in Western Australia
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia
Politicians from Adelaide
Businesspeople from Adelaide
Suicides by firearm in Australia
Suicides in Western Australia
Perth City Councillors
1931 deaths
{{Australia-business-bio-stub