Reginald Clifford Allen, 1st Baron Allen of Hurtwood (9 May 1889 – 3 March 1939), known as Clifford Allen, was a British

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, leading member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

(ILP), and prominent

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

Early life and education

The son of Walter Allen, a draper, Reginald Clifford Allen was born in Newport, then in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The family later moved to Bristol, on account of Walter's business. Allen was educated at Berkhamsted School,

University College, Bristol University College, Bristol was an educational institution which existed from 1876 to 1909. It was the predecessor institution to the University of Bristol, which gained a royal charter in 1909. During its time the college mainly served the mid ...

and, from 1908 to 1911, at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

. Having initially identified as a Conservative, in his final year at Cambridge he was chair of the university's Fabian Society.

Career

Shortly after coming down from Cambridge with a third-class degree, he was made Secretary and then General Manager of the '' Daily Citizen'' between 1911 and 1915. He was Chairman of the No-Conscription Fellowship in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and was imprisoned as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

three times. In 1917 he became so ill that he was released from prison where he set up house with

Catherine Marshall Catherine Sarah Wood Marshall LeSourd (September 27, 1914 – March 18, 1983) was an American author of nonfiction, inspirational, and fiction works. She was the wife of well-known minister Peter Marshall. Biography Marshall was born in Johnso ...

who was also ill from overwork. Marshall hoped that their relationship would continue but Allen ended their partnership.Jo Vellacott, 'Marshall, Catherine Elizabeth (1880–1961)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 31 Aug 2017
/ref> After the war he was Treasurer and Chairman of the

between 1922 and 1926, Chairman of the '' New Leader'' between 1922 and 1926 and director of the '' Daily Herald'' between 1925 and 1930. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Allen of Hurtwood, of Hurtwood in the County of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, on 18 January 1932, to boost

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

's National Labour representation in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. In 1934 he co-founded the Next Five Years Group seeking a progressive centre-left re-alignment in British politics. In January 1935 Allen wrote of German dictator

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

after he had met him: Despite his championing of the cause of

appeasement Appeasement, in an International relations, international context, is a diplomacy, diplomatic negotiation policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power (international relations), power with intention t ...

, he strongly condemned Nazi brutality and anti-semitism. For instance, in the House of Lords in July 1938 he declared: His efforts to intercede with the German government trying to save Hans Litten, a prominent opponent of the Nazi regime, from Dachau concentration camp were however unsuccessful.Arthur Marwick, ''Clifford Allen - The Open Conspirator'' London: Oliver & Boyd, 1964. pp.166-174

Personal life

Clifford Allen married Marjory Gill on 17 December 1921. They had one child, a daughter born in 1922, Joan Collete, known as Polly. Never having fully recovered from the privations of his imprisonment during the First World War when he had contracted tuberculosis, Lord Allen of Hurtwood died in a sanatorium in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1939, aged 49, the peerage becoming extinct.

Publications

''Is Germany right and Britain wrong?''
Chelsea : London : s.n., 1914. *''Executive committee report to the members on the progress of the fellowship'', No-Conscription Fellowship. London : No-Conscription Fellowship, 1915. *''Presidential address by Clifford Allen to the National Convention of the No-Conscription Fellowship, 27 November 1915'', No-Conscription Fellowship. London : National Labour Press, 1916. *''Why I still resist: Leaflet (No-Conscription Fellowship), no. 5.'', No-Conscription Fellowship, Pelican Press, London : Printed for the No-Conscription Fellowship, 1917. *''Putting socialism into practice : the President address'', London : Independent Labour Party, 1924. *''The I.L.P. and Revolution ... Reprinted from the Socialist Review.'', London : I.L.P. Publication Dept., 1925. *''Socialism & the next Labour Government. The presidential address ... at the I.L.P. Annual Conference, 1925.'',Independent Labour Party: London, 1925. *''Labour's Future at Stake'', London : G. Allen & Unwin, 1932. *''Britain's political future; a plea for liberty and leadership'', London, New York tc.Longmans, Green, 1934. *''Effective pacifism'', London : League of Nations Union, 1934.
''The next five years : an essay in political agreement''
with W Arnold Forster; A Barratt Brown; et al. London : Macmillan, 1935. *''We did not fight : 1914-18 experiences of war resisters'', edited by Julian Bell ; with a foreword by H.R.L. Sheppard ; contrib. by Lord Allen of Hurtwood ... t al. London, 1935. *''Peace in Our Time. An appeal to the International Peace Conference of June 16, 1936.'' London : Chatto & Windus, 1936. *''The price of European peace'', with Frank Ongley Darvall; Jan Christiaan Smuts. London .a.: Hodge, 1937.

References

External links