[Thomas] Harold ALLEN (1897–1918)
(Allen is also listed on the All Saints’ Church Roll of Honour and thus appears twice in the “tour”)
Thomas Harold Allen (known as Harold) was born in Shrewsbury in 1897, the son of Thomas Allen (born in Overton, Flintshire in 1863, son of Thomas Allen) and Mary Emma Edwards (born in Gobowen, Shropshire in 1862, daughter of Thomas Edwards).
His parents were married at Oswestry, Shropshire on 7 November 1895 and he was their only child:
- Thomas Harold Allen (born in Shrewsbury in 1897, registered second quarter).
The 1901 census shows Thomas Harold (already named simply as Harold) at the age of 4 living with his parents at 2 Belle Vue Gardens, Shrewsbury. His father Thomas Allen (37) was a domestic coachman. Near the end of the same year Harold’s mother, Mary Ann Allen died at the age of 38 in the Atcham, Shropshire registration district.
By the time of the 1911 census Harold’s father Thomas Allen, a widower, had brought his son and his wife’s sister, Miss Jessie Edwards, down to Headington, and the family were living at 123 Lime Walk (in the house called “Hazeldene”, then numbered 75) in All Saints’ parish. Harold (14) was still at school; his father (46) was working as a domestic coachman; and his aunt (40) presumably kept house for them.
At some point between 1911 and 1918 the Allen family must have had contact with St Andrew’s parish. As Harold Allen’s father became a farm bailiff, it is possible he worked in Old Headington.
In the First World War Thomas Harold Allen served as a Private in the Royal Fusiliers (Service No. 54938).
He died in the Halifax registration district at the age of 21 on 2 September 1918 and was buried in Headington Cemetery five days later (9. X. 4).
He is listed on the roll of honour both of All Saints’ Church (where his home was) and of St Andrew’s Church (where his father may have worked at the time of the war).
Left: Thomas Harold Allen’s grave in Headington Cemetery, photographed in 2010. He was an only child, and his father, a widower, must have had this gravestone put up in his memory. It reads:
IN
LOVING MEMORY OF
THOMAS HAROLD ALLEN
DIED [unclear]
SEPT 2 1918, AGED 21 YEARS
BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART
FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD
Then in 1930 the following words were added:
ALSO OF
THOMAS ALLEN
FATHER OF THE ABOVE
DIED NOV. 19th 1930 AGED 66 YEARS
THY WILL BE DONE
Postscript
Harold’s father
- Thomas Allen had by 1928 moved from Lime Walk to St Asaph, 56 Stapleton Road. He died at the age of 66 and was buried in Headington Cemetery on 22 November 1930. At the time of his death he was described as a farm bailiff: it is likely that the farm was in Old Headington, which may explain why his son is also listed on their roll of honour.