Colonial Despatches

William Allen appears in Pearson, Charles S. to Lytton, Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer 5 July 1858, CO 305:9, no. 6529, 647 as a supporter of Louisa Johns' petition for a widow's pension and employment for her son on Vancouver Island. Pearson reminds Lytton that Allen was formerly Commander of the Niger exploring expedition of 1841-42. The mission was considered unsuccessful due to high mortality rates from disease. Allen, then captain of the Wilberforce, was not blamed for the expedition's failure but placed on half pay when he returned to England.1 He retired from the Navy in 1855 and promoted to retired rear-admiral in 1862.2

Allen was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society.3 He wrote prolifically on topics ranging from the elimination of the African slave trade to community improvement, as well as multiple works based on his travels.4 Allen was also a musician and an accomplished painter.5 The Royal Society displayed his landscape paintings from 1828 to 1847.6 Allen was born in Weymouth in 1792 and died in Dorset on January 23, 1864.7

• 1. J. S. Keltie and Rev. Andrew Lambert, Allen, William, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Ibid.
• 5. Ibid.
• 6. Ibid.
• 7. Ibid.