Richard Allen (1814 - 16 February 1884) was a stationer and publisher in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

Background

He was born on 29 December 1814, the son of Edward Allen (1788-1863) of Leicester and Sarah Townsend (1792-1941). He married firstly Catherine Morris (1816 - 2 October 1837) and they had one child. *Sarah Elizabeth Allen (1837-1929) He married secondly Mary Ann Small (1810 - 1900), eldest daughter of William Small, on 12 July 1838 at Skirbeck and they had two children: *Edward Henry Allen (1840 - 1875) *Mary Adelaide Allen (1841 - 1901) He took an active part in the establishment of the Park Company of the

Robin Hood Rifles The Robin Hood Battalion was a unit of the Volunteer Force of the British Army and Territorial Force, later the Territorial Army. The battalion served as infantry during the 1916 Easter Uprising in Dublin and then served on the Western Front du ...

. He was also Provincial Grand Secretary of the Nottingham Freemasons. He died on 16 February 1884 at his house Albert Villa, 21 Cavendish Crescent South, The Park, Nottingham and left an estate valued at £34,611 9s 1d. ().

Business interests

He succeeded to the business of Samuel Bennett in 1836, printer and publisher, based on Long Row in Nottingham and until 1847 issued the ''Nottingham and Newark Mercury'', later shortened to the ''

Nottingham Mercury The ''Nottingham Mercury'' was a newspaper printed in Nottingham. Eighteenth century The first paper to use the title ''Nottingham Mercury'' was launched on 1 January 1714 by John Collyer and printed at the Hen Cross. Originally called ''The New ...

'', which was the organ of the Whig party in Nottingham. He was based at Caxton House Photographic Studio, 34 Long Row, Nottingham and produced many ''

Carte de visite The ''carte de visite'' (, visiting card), abbreviated CdV, was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero. Each photograph was the size o ...

'' for local people. In June 1860 he installed a steam engine and Cameron’s patent boiler to power the printing presses and insured it with the Steam Boiler Assurance Company of Manchester On 10 December, the insurance company sent its inspector who discovered considerable leakage and corrosion but deemed the boiler safe to continue to use until Christmas when repairs could be made. On 14 December the boiler exploded but the insurance company refused to pay out which led to a

Nisi prius ''Nisi prius'' () (Latin: "unless before") is a historical term in English law. In the 19th century, it came to be used to denote generally all legal actions tried before judges of the King's Bench Division and in the early twentieth century for ac ...

court case in 1864 from which Richard Allen was awarded £58 () in damages. Later in life he converted his stationery and book-binding business into a limited liability company and he retired from the active management of it, but remained a director up until his death.

Publications

*''Allen’s Midland Counties’ Railway Companion'' 1840 *''Rules and Regulations to be observed by the Enginemen, Guards, Policemen and others employed on the Midland Railway'' 1842 *''The History and Antiquities of Charnwood Forest. With an Appendix on the Geology, Botany, and Ornithology of the District.'' Authors J.B. Jukes; Rev.

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and

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1842 *''Allen’s Railway Time Table'' *''Memoir of the late

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.'' Author

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1860 *''Allen's Illustrated Hand-Book and Guide, to ... Nottingham and its Environs'' 1866 *''Red Book of Local Institutions'' 1867 onwards *''History of Old Trent Bridge, With a Descriptive Account of the New Bridge, Nottingham. Illustrated by Photographs.'' author Marriott Ogle Tarbotton 1871 *''A souvenir of Newstead Abbey'' 1874 *''Nottingham Past and Present'' by

Frederick Smeeton Williams Frederick Smeeton Williams (1829 – 26 October 1886) was an English minister in the Congregational church, Congregational Church, best known for his books on the early History of rail transport in Great Britain, history of UK railways. Bio ...

1877 *''Great Midland Almanack'' *''Book of hunting songs and sport collected by Mrs Chaworth Musters'' 1885

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Richard 1814 births 1884 deaths 19th-century publishers (people) English book publishers (people) People from Leicester Companies based in Nottingham History of Nottingham 19th-century English businesspeople