Paul_Rollins

Hi all, I apologize for being a bother. I want to get the facts correct about the Allen family in Prescot and their various cotton mills, and I need help from those of you with better, more accessible resources. Three questions: The first is regarding the following entry for James Allen & Sons in Manchester in the1822-23 Lancashire Directory (Pigot's): "James Allen & Sons, cotton spinners and fustian manufacturers, 9, Hotel Buildings, Exchange Street." I do not have access to this Directory online. Would someone kindly tell me what page this entry appears on, what category it is listed under, and what town(s) - Prescot only or Prescot and St. Helen's? Second: Does the Lancashire Directory for 1822/23 mention James Allen & Sons (or John & Richard Allen) having a manufactory in Warrington (Newton-in-Willows)? The Warrington factory was in operation six years later as it is listed in the 1828-29 Pigot's. Third and last: The Prescot History page refers to a 24 July 1810 article in the Manchester Courier referring to the auction of Prescot's cotton manufactory on Hillock Street in 1810. See: http://www.prescot.org/wordpress/?page_id=136&id=107&q=cotton&st=3&h&root=8. Is there any way of finding out for certain whether the Allen family purchased the Hillock Street factory at that time? Otherwise, I have to speculate that they did. Thank you for your continued help. I hope the answer to these questions will get me over the hump in this section of my book. Warm regards, Paul Rollins Atlanta, GA

Hello everyone, It's been a long time. I have finished writing my book about an old Prescot family - actually working on the footnotes and have hit a snag. I saw somewhere that Joseph Allen, 1787-1845, was a "manufacturer." He died in Gateacre, Little Woolton. For the life of me, I cannot retrieve the source. Will someone please help? Thank you, Paul Rollins Atlanta, Georgia

Hi Group, I'm still working on a biography of William Allen, born Prescot 1821. I am looking for an obituary of one of his best friends, Edmund Drinkwater Carver, died Buenos Aires, Argentina on 26 May 1909. I understand there was an obit published about his life in the London Times, possibly around 2 April 1909. Would someone with online access to UK newspaper archives give me a hand? My email address is PROL205066@aol.com. Thank you, thank you. Much appreciated! Paul Rollins Atlanta, GA

Thank you, GeoffB and gervassutti!

Hello Everyone, It's been a while since I communicated with the group although I have had a number of recent email exchanges with Stephen Nulty. As always, he has been extremely helpful. Currently, I am looking for information concerning the Tan Yard (Shuttle Alley, Long Row, etc.) on the south side of what was Hillock Street, now Kemble, in Prescot. My questions involve 1. The brief period of cotton manufacture in Prescot (about which I know nothing except there was once a sailcloth manufacturer in Prescot), and 2. The tenure of the John and Richard Allen as textile manufacturers in Lancashire, and, of course, Prescot. Stephen was kind to send me a drop box with number of entries from Pigot's Directories, but it expired and I am unable to retrieve it. This is what I THINK I know from some of the notes taken from the original drop box: John and Richard Allen engaged in textile manufacture from about 1818 (possibly earlier in and around Prestwich and/or Warrington) to 1847. They operated first under the name of "James Allen & Sons, manufacturers of fustian, sateen and velvet" (don't know which Pigot's this came from), and later under the name of "John and Richard Allen," according to Pigot's (date?). John and Richard Allen operated 3 factories devoted to cotton manufacture in Manchester (Bailey's Court); Warington (actually Newton-in-Willows); and Prescot (Hillock Street). I am requesting your help on reconstructing this series of events related to the Allens as well as some general information on the cotton industry itself as it related to Prescot. Thanks very much. I do appreciate any assistance you can provide. Warm regards, Paul Rollins Atlanta, Georgia P.S. And, yes, everyone over here is VERY nervous about the upcoming Presidential election just as you folks must have been about Brexit. It's very contentious and family-dividing. We'll be glad when it's over. PR

Thank you, Phyll, for the birthday greeting. It was much appreciated. I also owe everyone on the site who has helped me a special note of thanks. Ratty, I will write you under separate cover, because you were so instrumental in helping me ferret out sources where I could go for information. All the death certificates have arrived, except one the GRO is still looking for. The records tell an interesting story. Two of Joseph Allen's sons died in a lunatic asylum: James died in 1852 in the West Derby Lunatic Asylum of "paralysis of the brain;" and John Irving Allen died in 1862 in the Ashton Street, Liverpool Lunatic Asylum of "phthisis." Were these 2 different institutions or were they the same? And although I can find general information on Victorian asylum conditions, I can find nothing specific on these 2 institutions. Any help here would be greatly appreciated. Also: Allen family members are trying to tell me that being an asylum patient back then could have been for a number of "acceptable" reasons like severe depression or epilepsy. However, with 2 brothers being committed, I have to wonder if there was a strain of mental illness in the family. Any thoughts on that? I am the promiscuous type, now having attached myself to the Ormskirk & District Family History Society. Don't tell anyone, but they are not nearly as approachable, interested or organized as is St. Helens/Prescot. I have written them and ordered a CD to try to find more information on Joseph Allen's wife: Ann Irving, born bca 1784/1785 in Ormskirk where she married Joseph on 18 April 1818, presumably in a nonconformist chapel. I have been told that Ann was the daughter of a mill owner in Ormskirk, but there is no proof of that. The search continues on that front. Well, that's about it. Thanks for letting me jabber on about my book project. You guys have been terrific and I am in your debt. Warm regards from across the pond in HOT, HOT, HOT Georgia, Paul

Thanks.

Hi Le200, Thanks for the Drop Boxes. Unfortunately, you sent the wrong date of the Morning Post. It is 27 July 1886, not 1880. I hope you won't mind sending the correct copy. Regards, Paul

Hello , I am in need of some assistance from a member with access to the British Newspaper Archives. Specifically, I am seeking reprints of 2 death notices for WILLIAM ALLEN (died 21 July 1886 in California) published in UK newspapers: * Morning Post, London, Tuesday, 27 July 1886. Article, page 1. * Bath Chronicle & Weekly Gazette, Thursday, 29 July 1886, page 5, Family Notices. Please respond to me at <email address removed> Thanks for helping me on this. It is much appreciated! Sincerely, Paul

Ratty, This is terrific! How did you ever find them?!! Gratefully, Paul

Thanks for all of this, Stephen. This is very interesting information. My email address is PROL205066@aol.com. Thanks, Paul Thanks for all of this, Stephen. This is very interesting information. My email address is PROL205066@aol.com. Thanks, Paul Phyll, I will contact Gateacre Unitarian today to see if they have burial records which might include Joseph and Ann Allen. I will let you know what I find out. Thanks, Paul

Much obliged, Ratty. Know that you most definitely are appreciated. Paul I am finally making my way through some records that most of you are already familiar with: Re: Joseph Allen on Church Street Repository: Lancashire Archives Reference Number: DDCS/acc11870/Box4/24 Title: Records of Prescot Town and Parish Date: 20 Sep 1837 Description: Notice of sale of house and garden belonging to Joseph Allen in Church Street, Prescot and the plumber's shop adjacent.: printed by AT Ducker, Market Place, Prescot. I am hoping that by contacting the Archives, I can retrieve a copy of this transaction. Maybe it will contain other useful information (e.g., occupation, how long the Allens occupied the property, etc.). Then again, this could be in vain. This Joseph Allen may not be my Joseph at all. Thanks to one and all, Paul

Thanks, John!

Dear Ratty, Your super sleuthing is much appreciated! I forgot to mention that I did have the Queensland info you were so kind to send along. The curator of that site put me in touch with the great granddaughter of William Allen who now lives in northern California. She has helped a lot thus far, and has a number of family photos, including a silhouette of our Joseph Allen! I am ignorant (literally) of any information on John Irving Allen. I have never heard of Ashton Street, his will or the portrait of him in the Liverpool Records Office. Nor can I access the portrait of John through the Liverpool catalogue. Will I need to contact them directly to have them copy his page? If you have a moment, please send me directions on how/where I can find this data on my own. I have done American genealogies in the past, but this is my first attempt at UK research and certainly nothing that goes this far back. Stephen, thanks to you also for your continued diligence on my behalf. Thanks again, everyone and have a great weekend. Paul

Thanks so very much Ratty, Stephen and Phyll. All of you are just great to help out this retired Yank! I also found the 1841 Census information last night. I am a member of both Ancestry and Family Search, and somehow the census data escaped me. * What cemetery(ies) in Gateacre would the Allens (Unitarian/Presbyterian) most likely be buried in? * Also, Stephen, your Street in Time booklet left me salivating. If we could only somehow link the Allens to an address, maybe there would be a photo match. I know this is asking too much, but you know, you gotta set your goals high! * If Joseph's son William (the subject of my book) apprenticed in Liverpool about 1836-1841, what type of formal schooling do you think he might have had before the age of 14? * I have checked out the Lancashire wills on microfilm at the LDS center in Salt Lake. I found Joseph's father's will, which dates from 1809. However, their files contain no notice of Joseph's 1845 will, which could indicate his profession and how much of a man of means he was). Where would you go to look if you were me? Are there any national records that are catalogued elsewhere? Thanks again. I hope to hear from you about any further detail you can glean or any other places you recommend I look. Much appreciated! Sincerely, Paul