William Allen
about 1878–
Seaham, Durham, England
The Life of William
When William Allen was born about 1878, in Seaham, Durham, England, his father, James Allen, was 20 and his mother, Harriet Gotts, was 24. He lived in Seaham Harbour, Durham, England, United Kingdom for about 10 years and Seaham, Durham, England, United Kingdom in 1911.
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Parents and Siblings
James Allen
1858–1929Male
Harriet Gotts
1854–1883Female
siblings
(3)
1878–Male
1879–1962Male
1882–1914Female
World Events (8)
1880 · School Attendance Becomes Mandatory for Children
Age 2
School attendance became compulsory from ages five to ten on August 2, 1880.
1884
Age 6
Art Nouveau Period (Art and Antiques).
1914
Age 36
Outbreak of World War I. UK enters hostilities against Germany. Grueling trench warfare in Belgium and France.
Name Meaning
English and Scottish: from a Celtic personal name of great antiquity and obscurity. In England the personal name is now usually spelled Alan, the surname Allen; in Scotland the surname is more often Allan. Various suggestions have been put forward regarding its origin; the most plausible is that it originally meant ‘little rock’. Compare Gaelic ailín, diminutive of ail ‘rock’. The present-day frequency of the surname Allen in England and Ireland is partly accounted for by the popularity of the personal name among Breton followers of William the Conqueror, by whom it was imported first to Britain and then to Ireland. St. Alan(us) was a 5th-century bishop of Quimper, who was a cult figure in medieval Brittany. Another St. Al(l)an was a Cornish or Breton saint of the 6th century, to whom a church in Cornwall is dedicated.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
Sources (3)
- William Allen in household of Boaz Gotts, "England and Wales Census, 1891"
- William Allen in household of James Allen, "England and Wales Census, 1881"
- William Allen in household of Thomas Boaz Allen, "England and Wales Census, 1911"
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