Lt Col Sir William James Allen KBE DSO (15 October 1866 – 20 December 1947) was a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

unionist politician, soldier and businessman.

Early life

The son of Joseph and Catherine Allen, Allen was educated at

Lurgan College Lurgan College is a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School, situated in the town of Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History In lieu of the establishment of Lurgan Model primary school in 1863, the town of Lur ...

. His father Joseph was co-founder in 1868 of Johnston, Allen & Co.

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

manufacturers. After his father died in 1890, Allen inherited the partnership. This lasted until 1905, when it was dissolved (the factory retained the name Johnston Allen) as Allen left to set up his own linen business, the Windsor factory.

Military career

He served as Sovereign Grand Master of the

Royal Black Institution The Royal Black Institution, the Imperial Grand Black Chapter Of The British Commonwealth, or simply the Black Institution,wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch#Unsupported%20attributions">who?''/sup> argue is an Ulster syncretism of ri ...

(RBI) in recognition for his efforts towards the purchase of

Brownlow House Brownlow House, also known as Brownlow Castle and Lurgan Castle, is a Grade A listed 19th century house located in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. It was built for Irish politician Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan in 1833 by Scottish architect Willi ...

which became the world headquarters for the institution. An illuminated address was presented to him by his District Lodge which still hangs in the dining room of Brownlow House beside his portrait, painted by Frank McKelvey. Allen, together with Hugh Hayes, John Mehaffey, George Lunn Junior and James Malcolm Junior, were named as its first trustees. The House was a venue for the signing of the

Ulster Covenant Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant, commonly known as the Ulster Covenant, was signed by nearly 500,000 people on and before 28 September 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill introduced by the British Government in the same year. ...

, a cause Allen promoted vigorously, against what he viewed as the imposition by the British Government of the

Third Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 90), also known as the Home Rule Act, and before enactment as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act of Parliament, Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home ...

. Brownlow House also subsequently became his military HQ from 14 November 1914 onwards, where Allen helped raise and organise the basic training of the 16th (Pioneer) Battalion

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...

. He later served as its commanding officer. He arrived with them at

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

in Northern France from their training camp in Seaford, East Sussex on 1 October 1915. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

in 1918 and

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

four times. He was also appointed chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

Political career

From 1913 to 1914 Allen was a key supporter of Lord

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Unionism in Ireland, Irish u ...

of Duncairn and

Sir James Craig James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1912 ...

in their campaign against the third

Home Rule Bill The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...

. He was also elected Deputy Grand Master of the Orange Order and also held the post of Honorary Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council from 1907 on. He was elected to the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in 1917, as an Irish Unionist Party

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for North Armagh, and retained his seat at the 1918 general election. The constituency was abolished for the 1922 general election, when he was re-elected as a member of the new

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

for the new Armagh constituency. On 22 June 1921, he was one of several officers invested as

Knight Commander of 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 ...

(KBE) to mark the visit of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and Queen

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...

to officially open the new

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

Personal life

Allen was twice married, first in 1892 to Maria (eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs John Ross). They had a son and daughter. Maria died in 1937 and in 1938 he was remarried, to Lillah Irene, daughter of the late R.H. Forsythe. Allen died in 1947, two weeks after being knocked down by a motor van while alighting from a

tram 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 ...

on the

Lisburn Road Lisburn Road is a main arterial route linking Belfast and Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the " Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road runs almost parallel t ...

, Belfast, on 5 December. He was 81 and the second oldest MP in the House of Commons. Allen was buried in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

and was survived by his second wife Lillah Irene, Lady Allen.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, William James 1866 births 1947 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Armagh constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Armagh constituencies (since 1922) Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 People educated at Lurgan College Royal Ulster Rifles officers Road incident deaths in Northern Ireland British Army personnel of World War I Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Irish Unionist Party MPs