Anthony Allen (died 11 April 1754) was an English

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Life

Allen was born at Great Hadham in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, about the end of the seventeenth century. He went to

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, earning his bachelor's degree in 1707, and his master's in 1711. He was a Fellow of King's College from 1706 to 1717. Admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1704, Allen was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1710. Through the influence of Arthur Onslow, speaker of the House of Commons, he became a master in chancery in 1728. Esteemed as a classical scholar, Allen was a wit of convivial habits. He later became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the corporation of

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, and a useful magistrate in that area. In 1739 he served as a founding governor of the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

in London. He died on 11 April 1754 and was buried in the

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

Writings

Allen collected a biographical account of the members of

, which by his will, dated 1753, he ordered to be placed in the libraries of the two colleges, and a third copy to be given to his patron, Christian Cronauer. He also compiled, in his leisure hours, or rather made collections for, an English dictionary of obsolete words, of words which have changed their meaning, such as ''villain'', ''knave'', and of proverbial or cant words, such as ''helter skelter'', which he derived from ''hilariter celeriter''. Allen's junior clerk, Thomas Sibthorpe, was bequeathed this manuscript material, Allen's law dictionary, and his law reports.

References

* *Chalmers, Alexander. ''The General Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Historical and Critical Account of the Lives and Writings of the most Eminent Persons in Every Nation; Particularly the British and Irish; from the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time''. new ed. rev. and enl. London: Nichols t al. 1812–1817. 32 vols. ;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Anthony 1685 births 1754 deaths People educated at Eton College English antiquarians People from Much Hadham Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Historical linguists English lexicographers 18th-century lexicographers English barristers