Lily L. Allen (30 December 1867 – 14 February 1952) was an Irish author.

Early years

Lily L. Oram was born t
John Oram
an
Jane (Talbott) Oram
at

Newport, County Mayo Newport (), historically known as Ballyveaghan and for many years also known as Newport-Pratt, is a small town in the barony of Burrishoole, County Mayo, Ireland. The population was 626 in 2016. It is located on the west coast of Ireland, along ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 30 December 1867.

Career

In her twenties, Lily joined the

Bible Christian Church The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O’Bryan, a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm in Shebbear, ...

and for a time was known as Sister Lily while she worked in the East London slums. She was a local preacher for the church and conducted missions over a wide area of the West Country. It was when conducting a mission in South Wales that she met her future husband and fellow writer James Allen, of Ilfracombe. They were married at Weston Bampfylde Church in May 1895. Her daughter Nora Allen wrote of her: ¨She was a beautiful woman with large brown eyes, dark brown hair, which became white rather early in life, very good features and, to the last, an upright carriage. She had a striking personality and was in many ways an individualist. Her religious outlook was undoubtedly influenced by her husband, for after her marriage she inclined more towards the unorthodox. On account of this, she was "excommunicated" from the Bible Christian Church and returned to the Church of England, in which she had been brought up, though she did not continue as a practising member. She was a strict vegetarian. In home life, she was thoroughly domesticated, an excellent cook and enjoyed the running and work of the house. After her husband's death in 1912, Lily continued the publication of his magazine, "The Epoch", until failing sight forced her to give it up. She wrote several books, mainly on the lines of the power of thought and character building, but these never made the same impact on the public as those of James Allen. Allen died at

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along the ...

, England on 14 February 1952, aged 84.

External links

Information on Lily's parents and siblings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Lily 1867 births 1952 deaths 19th-century British writers 20th-century British writers 19th-century British women writers 20th-century British women writers People from Newport, County Mayo Writers from County Mayo