Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen (February 24, 1848 – October 25, 1899) was a Canadian science writer and novelist, educated in England. He was a public promoter of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Biography

Early life and education

Allen was born on Wolfe Island near Kingston, Canada West (known as

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

after Confederation), the second son of Catharine Ann Grant and the Rev. Joseph Antisell Allen, a Protestant minister from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland. His mother was a daughter of the fifth Baron de Longueuil. Allen was educated at home until, at age 13, he and his parents moved to the United States, then to France, and finally to the United Kingdom. He was educated at King Edward's School in Birmingham and at

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, both in the United Kingdom. After graduation, Allen studied in France, taught at Brighton College in 1870–71, and in his mid-twenties became a professor at Queen's College, a black college in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

. Despite being the son of a minister, Allen became an atheist and a socialist.

Writing career

After leaving his professorship, in 1876 he returned to England, where he turned his talents to writing, gaining a reputation for his essays on science and for literary works. A 2007 book by

Oliver Sacks Oliver Wolf Sacks, (9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. Born in Britain, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford, before moving to the Uni ...

cites with approval one of Allen's early articles, "Note-Deafness" (a description of what became known as amusia, published in 1878 in the learned journal ''

Mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

''). Allen's first books dealt with scientific subjects, and include ''Physiological Æsthetics'' (1877) and ''Flowers and Their Pedigrees'' (1886) He was first influenced by associationist psychology as expounded by Alexander Bain and by

Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression " survival of the f ...

, the latter who especially espoused the transition from associationist psychology to Darwinian functionalism. In Allen's many articles on flowers and on perception in insects, Darwinian arguments replaced the old Spencerian terms, leading to a radically new vision of plant life that influenced H.G. Wells and helped transform later botanical research. On a personal level, a long friendship that started when Allen met Spencer on his return from Jamaica grew uneasy over the years. Allen wrote a critical and revealing biographical article on Spencer that was published after Spencer's death. After assisting Sir W. W. Hunter with his ''Gazetteer of India'' in the early 1880s, Allen turned his attention to fiction, and between 1884 and 1899 produced about 30 novels. In 1895, his scandalous book titled ''

The Woman Who Did ''The Woman Who Did'' (1895) is a novel by Grant Allen about a young, self-assured bourgeoisie, middle-class woman who defies convention as a matter of principle and who is fully prepared to suffer the consequences of her actions. It was first pu ...

'', promulgating certain startling views on marriage and kindred questions, became a bestseller. The book told the story of an independent woman who has a child out of wedlock. Owing to his concern with these subjects, Allen was associated with

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...

, whose novel ''

Jude the Obscure ''Jude the Obscure'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy, which began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895 (though the title page says 1896). It is Hardy's last completed novel. The protagonist, Jude Fawley ...

'' (1895) was published the same year as ''The Woman Who Did''. In his career, Allen wrote two novels under female pseudonyms. One of these, the short novel ''The Type-writer Girl'', he wrote under the name Olive Pratt Rayner. Another work, ''The Evolution of the Idea of God'' (1897), propounds a theory of religion on heterodox lines comparable to

's "ghost theory". Allen's theory became well known and brief references to it appear in a review by

Marcel Mauss Marcel Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociology and ...

, Durkheim's nephew, in the articles of

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

and in the works of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

. The young G. K. Chesterton wrote on what he considered the flawed premise of the idea, arguing that the idea of God preceded human mythologies, rather than developing from them. Chesterton said of Allen's book on the evolution of the idea of God: "it would be much more interesting if God wrote a book on the evolution of the idea of Grant Allen". Allen also became a pioneer in

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

, with the novel '' The British Barbarians'' (1895) This book, published about the same time as H. G. Wells's '' The Time Machine'' (which appeared in January–May 1895, and which includes a mention of Allen), also described time travel, although the plot is quite different. Allen's short story ''The Thames Valley Catastrophe'' (published December 1897 in ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'') describes the destruction of London by a sudden and massive

volcanic eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are oft ...

Ancestry

Personal life

Allen married twice, first to Caroline Ann Bootheway (1846–1871) and secondly to Ellen Jerrard (b, 1853) with whom he had one son, Jerrard Grant Allen (1878–1946), a theatrical agent/manager who in 1913 married the actress and singer Violet Englefield. They had a son, Reginald "Reggie" Grant Allen (1910-1985). Grant Allen's nephew, Grant Richards, was a writer and publisher who founded the Grant Richards publishing house. Allen encouraged his nephew's interest in books and publishing and helped him obtain his first positions in the book trade. Richards was later to publish a number of books written by his uncle, including ''The Evolution of the Idea of God'' and those in the book series Grant Allen's Historical Guides. Allen's nieces by marriage, novelist

Netta Syrett Netta Syrett (17 March 1865 – 15 December 1943) was an English writer of the late Victorian period whose novels featured New Woman protagonists. Her novel ''Portrait of a Rebel'' was adapted into the 1936 film ''A Woman Rebels''. Biography ...

, and artists Mabel Syrett and Nellie Syrret all contributed work to

The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by th ...

. In 1893 Allen left London for the hills around the

Devil's Punch Bowl The Devil's Punch Bowl is a visitor attraction and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated just to the east of the village of Hindhead in the English county of Surrey. It is part of the Wealden Heaths Phase II Special Protection ...

, enthusing on the advantages of the change of scene: "Up here on the free hills, the sharp air blows in upon us, limpid and clear from a thousand leagues of open ocean; down there in the stagnant town, it stagnates and ferments."

Death and posthumous publication

Grant Allen died of liver cancer at his home on

Hindhead Hindhead is a village in Surrey, England. It is the highest village in Surrey, with buildings at between 185 and 253 metres above sea level. It is best known as the location of the Devil's Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scientifi ...

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere in ...

, Surrey, England, on October 25, 1899. He died before finishing ''Hilda Wade''. The novel's final episode, which he dictated to his friend, doctor and neighbor Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

from his bed, appeared under the appropriate title, "The Episode of the Dead Man Who Spoke" in the ''Strand Magazine'' in 1900.

Legacy

Many histories of detective fiction mention Allen as an innovator. The illustrious Colonel Clay is a precursor of other gentleman rogue characters; he notably bears a strong resemblance to

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...

, introduced some years later, and both ''Miss Cayley's Adventures'' and ''Hilda Wade'' feature early female detectives. The Scene of the Crime Festival, an annual festival celebrating Canadian mystery fiction, takes place annually on Wolfe Island, Ontario, near Kingston, Allen's birthplace and honors Allen. A metal arch commemorating Allen, was designed by Lucy Quinnell and installed at the entrance to Allen Court in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughl ...

, Surrey in 2013.

Quotes

''What a misfortune it is that we should thus be compelled to let our boys' schooling interfere with their education!''

Partial bibliography

Books

*(1877
''Physiological Esthetics''
*(1879
''The Colour-Sense: Its Origin and Development''
*(1881
''Evolutionist at Large''
*(1881
''Vignettes from Nature''
*(1882
''The Colours of Flowers''
*(1883)
Colin Clout's Calendar
' *(1883) ''Flowers and Their Pedigrees'' *(1884) ''Philistia''. Allen's FIRST NOVEL *(1884) ''Strange Stories''. Short Stories *(1885) ''Babylon''. A novel in 3 volumes *(1885
''Charles Darwin''
(English Worthies) *(1886) ''For Mamie's Sake'' *(1886) ''In All Shades'' *(1887) ''The Beckoning Hand and Other Stories''. Short Stories *(1888) ''This Mortal Coil: A Novel'' *(1888
''Force and Energy''
*(1888) ''The Devil's Die'' *(1888) ''The White Man's Foot'' *(1889) ''Falling in Love'' *(1889) ''The Tents of Shem'' *(1890) ''Wednesday the Tenth'' *(1890
''The Great Taboo''
*(1891) ''Dumaresq's Daughter'' *(1891) ''What's Bred in the Bone'' *(1892) ''Pallinghurst Barrow''. Short Story. *(1892) ''The Duchess of Powysland'' *(1893) ''The Scallywag'' *(1893) ''Michael's Crag'' *(1894) ''The Lower Slopes'' *(1894) ''Post-Prandial Philosophy'' *(1895) ''The British Barbarians'' *(1895
''At Market Value''
*(1895
''The Story of the Plants''
*(1895) ''The Desire of the Eyes'' *(1895) ''

'' *(1896) ''The Jaws of Death'' *(1896) ''A Bride from the Desert'' *(1896) ''Under Sealed Orders'' *(1896) ''Moorland Idylls'' *(1897
Kalee's Shrine
*(1897) '' An African Millionaire: Episodes in the Life of the Illustrious Colonel Clay'' *(1897)
The Evolution of the Idea of God
' *(1897)
Paris
' (Grant Allen's Historical Guides) *(1897)
Florence
' (Grant Allen's Historical Guides) *(1897)
Cities of Belgium
' (Grant Allen's Historical Guides) *(1897) ''The Type-writer Girl'' (as Olive Pratt Rayner) *(1897)
Tom, Unlimited
' (as Martin Leach Warborough) *(1898) In 1899 an edition was published by

George Newnes Ltd George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as '' Tit-Bits'', ''The Wide World Magaz ...

(see e.g. ; ) See also: review in: ''

The Zoologist ''The Zoologist'' was a monthly natural history magazine established in 1843 by Edward Newman and published in London. Newman acted as editor-in-chief until his death in 1876, when he was succeeded, first by James Edmund Harting (1876–1896) ...

'', 4th series, vol. 3 (1899), issue 691 (January), p. 33/4. Many later editions were published. *(1898) ''The Incidental Bishop'' *(1898)
Venice
'. (Grant Allen's Historical Guides) *(1899) ''The European Tour'' *(1899) ''A Splendid Sin'' *(1899) ''Miss Cayley's Adventures''. Detective novel *(1899) ''Twelve Tales: With a Headpiece, a Tailpiece, and an Intermezzo'' *(1900) ''Hilda Wade''. Detective novel finished by Arthur Conan Doyle *(1900) ''Linnet'' *(1901) ''The Backslider'' *(1901
''In Nature's Workshop''
*(1908) ''Evolution in Italian Art'' *(1909) ''The Hand of God'' *(1909
''The Plants''

Selected articles

*(1878
"Hellas and Civilization,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCXLIII, pp. 156–170 *(1878
"Nation-making: A Theory of National Characters,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCXLIII, pp. 580–591 *(1880
"Why Keep India?,"
''The Contemporary Review'', Vol. XXXVIII, pp. 544–556 *(1880
"The Growth of Sculpture,"
''The Cornhill Magazine'', Vol. XLII, pp. 273–293 *(1880
"The English Chronicle,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCXLVI, pp. 543–559 *(1880
"The Venerable Bede,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCXLIX, pp. 84–100 *(1880
"The Dog's Universe,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCXLIX, pp. 287–301 *(1880
"Evolution and Geological Time,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCXLIX, pp. 563–579 *(1881
"The Story of Wulfgeat,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLI, pp. 551–561 *(1882
"An English Shire,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLII, pp. 49–70 *(1882
"The Welsh in the West Country,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLIII, pp. 179–197 *(1882
"The Colours of Flowers,"
''The Cornhill Magazine'', Vol. XLV, pp. 19–34 *(1882
"An English Weed,"
''The Cornhill Magazine'', Vol. XLV, pp. 542–554 *(1883
"Honeysuckle,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLV, pp. 313–322 *(1884
"The Garden Snail,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLVI, pp. 25–34 *(1884
"Our Debt to Insects,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLVI, pp. 452–469 *(1886
"A Thinking Machine,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLX, pp. 30–41 *(1889
"From Africa,"
''Gentleman's Magazine'', Vol. CCLXVII, pp. 547–557 *(1890) "The Girl of the Future," ''Universal Review'', Vol. VII, p. 57 *(1891
"Democracy and Diamonds,"
''The Contemporary Review'', Vol. LIX, pp. 669–677

Sources

* * * * * * * Includes Grant Allen.

References

* *

External links

The Grant Allen Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Grant 1848 births 1899 deaths Canadian agnostics Canadian science writers Canadian male novelists Canadian non-fiction writers Writers from Kingston, Ontario Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of Irish descent Charles Darwin biographers Male feminists Pre-Confederation Ontario people Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) 19th-century Canadian novelists Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Deaths from liver cancer 19th-century male writers Canadian socialist feminists Male non-fiction writers