Biography

James Allen 1855-1942

James Allen was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 10 February 1855. He was the son of James Allen and Esther Bax. His mother died in 1859, and his father in 1865 when he was ten. He and his brother went to live with an uncle in England.

James went to Clifton College in Bristol in 1869 and gained a scholarship in natural science. He graduated with a bachelor of arts from St John’s College, Cambridge in 1877. He returned to Dunedin with his cousin Mary Jane Hill Richards, whom he had married on 23 August 1877. They were to have six children.

He entered politics when he stood as a conservative in the Dunedin East electorate in 1887, defeating premier Sir Robert Stout. He eventually became deputy to William Massey. In 1891 he assumed command of the Dunedin Naval Artillery Volunteers, and in 1911 he was appointed coast defence commander of the Otago Military District. He became minister of defence in parliament in 1912, and created the New Zealand naval forces in 1913.

During the First World War he oversaw the development of New Zealand’s war effort. He was the acting Prime Minister from August 1916, lasting 23 months. He was appointed a KCB in 1917.

After the war he was appointed the high commissioner for New Zealand in Britain for six years. When he returned to New Zealand he was prominent in the Institute of Pacific Relations, presiding over the New Zealand branch from 1927 until 1939.

James retired from public life in 1938 and died on 28 July 1942.

— See McGibbon, Ian. ‘Allen, James 1855 – 1942’. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

— Other burials recorded at the same site:
Charles ALLEN d. 1888,
Sophia Allen RICHARDS d. 1916,
Mary Jane Hill ALLEN d. 1939,
Rona Marion ALLEN d. 1957,
Charles Richard ALLEN d. 1962,
and Lillian Dorothy ALLEN d. 1968.