148 DR. BENJAMIN ALLEN, OF BRAINTREE.
Ray. He has, however, a strong claim to our recollection on his
own account, as an observant and intelligent working naturalist;
and my object in compiling this brief life of him is to rescue
his memory from oblivion. It would have been impossible for
me to have done what I have done without the kind assistance
of our member, the Rev. J. W. Kenworthy, vicar of Braintree,1
who is the fortunate possessor of Allen's "Common-Place
Book"—a large volume, full of interesting memoranda on all
sorts of subjects (chiefly medical, scientific, and personal).2 It
will be referred to many times in what follows.
Dr. Benjamin Allen, of Braintree, was a son of Dr. Benjamin
Allen, a physician, apparently of London.3 The younger man
was born, however, in Somersetshire,4 though the exact place
and date of his birth have not been ascertained. It must have
been in the year 1663; for, when he died, in 1738, he was
described"' as aged seventy-five. He appears to have had some
connection with the County of Essex, and especially with the
parish of Black Notley, where ultimately he was buried, but
the exact nature of this connection is not clear. Not improbably,
he belonged to the family of Allen or Alleyn, Baronets
(cr. 1629), which was prominent at Thaxted, Hatfield Peverel,
and elsewhere in Essex for a long period. At all events, Allen
seems to have been on terms of some intimacy with Sir George
Alleyn (16—?-1702, fifth Baronet), of Little Leighs; Sir
Clopton Alleyn (16—?-1726, sixth Baronet), also of Little
Leighs; Mrs. Allen or Alleyn, of Black Notley; and other
members of the family.6
In due course, Allen was sent to St. Paul's School, where,
as he says,7 "Dr. Gale [was] my Maister."8 Allen was
1 Mr. Kenworthy has resigned since this was written.
2 Mr Kenworthy purchased the book for a substantial sum on the 8th November 1887,
from the late Mr. Golding, of Colchester.
3 A certain Benjamin Allen (possibly Allen's father) took the degree of BA. at Exeter
Coll., Oxford, on 21st June 1660 (see Cat. of Graduates Univ. of Oxford p. 9 ; 1851)
4 This county was given as that of his birth when he entered at Cambridge, as I am
informed by the Rev. T. C. Fitzpatrick, the President of Queen's College.
5 On his tomb at Black Notley.
6 See various memoranda in the Common-Place Book.
7 Common-Place Book, pp. 200 and 202. Hereafter, wherever a reference to a page or
pages is given, it must be understood to refer to this book.
8 The Rev. Thomas Gale (1635? 1702), a son of Christopher Gale, of Scrutton, Yorkshire,
was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge A very eminent
scholar, he held the Professorship of Greek at Cambridge from 1666 to 1672," when he
resigned on his appointment to the High Mastership of St. Paul's School, London. This
position he held with ever-increasing repute for twenty five years, resigning in 1697. on his
appointment as Dean of York. He died at York in 1702 and lies buried in the Cathedral
there.