Based on his age at death we believe James Allen was born around 1740.  We have not found any record of his birth or baptism in Thornbury so we can’t be sure when or where James Allen was born.  It is possible that he was the James Allen baptised in Cromhall on 23rd November 1740.  He was the son of Francis Allen and his wife, Anne Allen.

James Allen a farmer married Mary Wherrett in St Mary’s Church in Thornbury on 9th May 1771.  Both were described as being ‘of this parish’.

They had a son, James, born on 22nd October 1771 and baptised on 5th January 1772, Mary born on 3rd March 1774 and baptised on 6th January 1775, Sarah born on 3rd July 1778 and baptised on 27th September 1778, Anne born on 2nd October 1782 and baptised on 5th January 1783, Esther born on 6th July 1785 and baptised on 24th August 1785 and John born on 20th February 1787.

James was a yeoman farmer who lived in Morton.  He died on 4th March 1817 aged 76.  James’s will showed that although he lived in Morton he owned three properties in Thornbury and one in Pucklechurch.  The house and two closes of land in Pucklechurch he left to his wife for her lifetime and then it was to be shared between their daughters, Mary Allen and Ann Allen.

The house at 26 Castle Street was described in James’s will as ‘all that messuage or dwelling house wherein Charles Kingston formerly inhabited and my eldest son James Allen deceased lately dwelt and Thomas Evans, Baker since dwelt and Thomas Lane doth now dwell with the outhouse outlet garden and appurtenances thereto belonging situate in the said Borough of Thornbury in the said County and which I purchased of Henry Mills unto my wife Mary Allen  for and during the term of her natural life and from and immediately after her decease then I give and devise the same unto my said daughter Sarah Leonard wife of John Leonard the younger  and her heirs for ever’.  James must have acquired this property at some time before 1791 when Henry Mills died.

The property called The Pest House (now 3 Upper Bath Road) was described in James’s will as ‘all those several messuages or dwelling houses collectively called the Pest House wherein Sarah Croome and Joseph Gough do now dwell with the garden orchard and appurtenances as thereto adjoining and belonging by me purchased of George Allen situate in the Town and Borough of Thornbury in the said County and now in the tenure or occupation of the said Sarah Croome and her undertenants’.  The land tax records indicate that this property must have been acquired by James Allen at some time after 1784 and before 1796.  James left this to his wife Mary for her lifetime and then to their daughter Mary.

The house at 11 Rock Street was described in James’s will as ‘all that messuage or dwelling house wherein Richard Collins deceased heretofore inhabited and Benjamin Baylis afterwards dwelt and Betty Holland? since dwelt James Screen lately inhabited and Thomas Screen doth now dwell with the outlet garden and appurtenances thereto adjoining and belonging situate in the Borough of Thornbury aforesaid and now in the occupation of the said Thomas Screen as my tenant thereof and which I purchased of Susannah Nelmes unto my said wife Mary Allen for and during the term of her natural life and from and immediately after her decease then I give and devise the same unto my said daughter Mary Allen and her heirs for ever’.  James had been listed as the owner of this property in the 1796 land tax record.

After James’s death Mary carried on living in Morton and letting the properties out to tenants.  She died on 4th March 1835 aged 91 and was buried in St Mary’s Churchyard on 11th March 1835.  In her will dated 5th August 1828 she left a dwelling house with the garden situate in the High Street and then in the occupation of William Longden as tenant and which she lately bought and purchased of Mary Williams and Richard Williams.  This property was left to her daughter Sarah Leonard and her heirs and assigns forever.  We have been unable to identify this property.

Of their children:

James Allen – born on 22nd October 1771 and baptised on 5th January 1772.  James married Mary Parslow on 10th October 1799.  Their daughter, Esther (or Hester) was born on 15th August 1800 and baptised on 1st October 1800.  Hester never married and died aged 72 on 3rd September 1872.

  • James and Mary’s son, Isaac (or Imm) Parslow Allen was born on 5th August 1801.  His first name varies a lot in different records throughout his life.  His baptism record shows him as Imm Parslow Allen and sometimes he is referred to as Parslow Allen.  He  moved to London and married Elizabeth Sweatman in Southwark on 13th December 1823.  Imm became a policeman although he later got in trouble himself and served two gaol sentences.  They had one son but Elizabeth appears to have died in childbirth.  Imm ended up in the Gloucester Lunatic Asylum where he died.

James Allen died on 18th March 1803 aged 33 and was buried on 20th March 1803.  We believe Mary married again on 3rd September 1804.  Her second husband was John Machin.  John and Mary had a son, George Parslow Machin in 1805 and two daughters Hannah born in 1809 and Rose in 1811.  John was described as a jobber in the baptism records.  They carried on living in Morton.  John died in 1857.

Mary Allen – born on 3rd March 1774 and baptised on 6th January 1775.  Mary never married.  She inherited from her father the property called the Pest House and the property later known as 11 Rock Street.  Mary lived in Morton and let these properties out to tenants.   She died in Thornbury on the 12th February 1841 aged 66.  In her will dated 19th December 1839 she left the Pest House to her niece, Hester Allen, the daughter of James and Mary Allen.  She left a cottage with the garden and orchard situate in Morton which she had lately purchased of the Rev Mr Harding to her nephew Charles Thomas Leonard and his heirs and assigns for ever.

Sarah Allen – born on 3rd July 1778 and baptised on 27th September 1778.  Sarah married John Leonard of Hill on 15th April 1802.  John Leonard was baptised in Rockhampton on 27th October 1779 and was the son of John and Mary Leonard.

We have traced the baptisms of two of their children: Charles Thomas on 22nd September 1805 and Samuel on 1st October 1815.

In accordance with the will of her father, James Allen, Sarah was left the house at 26 Castle Street following the death of her mother in 1828.  In accordance with the will of her sister, Mary Allen, dated 19th December 1839 Sarah was left a dwelling house with the garden situate in the High Street and then in the occupation of William Longden as tenant and which she lately bought and purchased of Mary Williams and Richard Williams.  This property was left to her daughter Sarah Leonard and her heirs and assigns forever.  We have been unable to identify this property, but it may have been 24 Castle Street which we know was listed as being owned by Sarah’s husband, John Leonard, along with 26 Castle Street in the 1840 Tithe Survey.

John Leonard died 17th July 1841 aged 62 years.  Sarah Leonard appears to have gone to live with her son Samuel.  She was living with him and his wife in the 1851 Census in Monmouthshire.  Her death was registered in Monmouthshire in 1858.

Anne Allen –  born on 2nd October 1782 and baptised on 5th January 1783.  Ann married Arthur Screen, a farmer in Thornbury on 1st May 1821.  Their daughter Annis baptised on 20th June 1821.  Ann died aged 52 and was buried on 20th October 1833.  On 9th June 1842 Arthur, a farmer, married Caroline Elizabeth Werrett.  Annis died aged 15 and was buried on 6th November 1836.  Arthur appears to have been associated with Wellfield in a document dated 1841.  Another farm which he put up for sale in 1861 was described as being in Lower Morton.   The 1861 census shows Arthur and Caroline Screen were living in a farm in Duckhole Lane.  He died on 4th April 1877.

Esther Allen – born on 6th July 1785 and baptised on 24th August 1785.    She died aged 9 years and 10 months and was buried on 21st December 1794.

John Allen – born on 20th February 1787.  John married Ann Dorney in Kingswood near Wotton under Edge in Gloucestershire on January 12th 1809.  We understand that Ann was seven years older than John and was from a wealthy family.

John Allen was a ring leader of the famous poaching affray of 1816.  By that time John and Ann had four children; Amelia (born June 1809), James (born December 1810), Mark (born April 1812) and John (baptised January 1815).  Ann was expecting a fifth child when John was arrested.

John was hanged at Gloucester Gaol on 13th April 1816 aged 28.  Normally it was the practice to bury the remains in the Gloucester Gaol but in this case, locals pleaded for the return of the bodies of John Allen and John Penny (who was hung along with John Allen) and they were brought back to Thornbury.  The next day, Easter Sunday, they were buried in St Mary’s Churchyard in Thornbury.  Ann’s fifth child was baptised Ann on 2nd October 1816, after the trial and its sad outcome.  Click here to read a fuller account of John’s involvement in the poaching affray 

At the time of the 1840 Tithe Survey Ann is listed as living in the property now known as Pippins, 62 Gloucester Road.  However the 1841 Census shows her living in an unidentified house in St John Street.  By that time her daughter Ann had married Edwin Pitcher Knapp in 1839.   Ann was living there with her daughter, Amelia Allen aged 27 and two children Eliza Reeves aged 9 and William Allen aged 3.  In 1843 Ann’s daughter Amelia Allen married Daniel Pitcher Knapp.

Later censuses in 1851, 1861 and 1871 show Ann had returned to live in Gloucester Road.  Ann Allen managed to make a respectable and presumably comfortable life for herself.  The 1861 census calls her a proprietor of house and land and in 1871 the notes say that she was employing 7 men.  She died aged 93 years on 1st April 1874.

Following her death the property was put up for sale on 19th September 1874.  It was described as ‘a freehold messuage or dwelling house with brewhouse, stable, piggery, garden and close of excellent arable land adjoining 1 acre, 1 rood and 7 perches, numbered 856 and 857 on the Tithe Map, late in the occupation of Mrs Ann Allen deceased or her undertenants’

Of John and Anne’s five children:

  • We know nothing about James born in 1810 or John who was baptised in 1815.
  • Mark Allen was born in 1812.  We have been unable to trace him in the 1841 census but by 1851 he was a tailor.  He lived in London with his wife Amelia and his daughter, also called Amelia.  The couple ran a lodging house and had five lodgers and a servant in the household.  He continued to live in the same area (St Botolph’s parish in Aldersgate) and work as a tailor.
  • Amelia Allen born in June 1809 married Daniel Pitcher Knapp in 1843.  Daniel was the brother of the Edwin Knapp who had married Amelia’s sister, Ann, in 1839.  Daniel died in 1856 and Amelia became a lodging house keeper in Bristol.  She died there aged 76 in 1885 and was buried with her parents.  Read about Daniel Pitcher Knapp
  • Ann Allen was baptised 1816.  In 1839 she married Edwin Knapp.  The 1851 census shows her living in the High Street with Edwin who was a boot and shoe maker and their young family.  The 1861 census shows them living in Bristol.  It appears that Ann died before 1869 as Edwin remarried in December quarter 1869.  Read about Edwin Knapp