The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Allen, Rev. William
Allen, Rev. William, was born on Nov. 4th, 1847, at Betchworth, Surrey, and was taken to Victoria in 1852. He was educated at the Scotch and Congregational colleges in Melbourne, and matriculated at the Melbourne University in 1869. He became pastor of the Sandhurst Congregational church in Jan. 1871, was transferred to Maryborough in Jan. 1875, and in Jan. 1880 was appointed to his present living at Carlton. Since 1871 Mr. Allen has written for the religious press; he was Chairman of the "Congregational Union and Mission of Victoria" in 1886 and 1886, and in the latter year published "Random Rhymes." Mr. Allen gained the first prize for the cantata which he composed for the opening of the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888.