Information from Cynthia Glover’s (nee Coleman) book, “The Allen Family” and first published in 2005. Cynthia’s great-great-great-grandfather was this William Allen b.before 1810. (William's daughter, Martha Allen b. 1849, married Charles Oliver, youngest son of James and Ruth Oliver).

Cynthia writes that the spelling of the surname was changed to ALLEN when the family emigrated to New Zealand.

William’s mother was not married, and he took her surname. His father was Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope. Both his father and his mother died in December 1815, when he was aged 5, and was left an orphan. It was likely he went to a family member as over half the local population was named ‘Allin’. He was apprenticed to a farmer in Devon. William may not have received any schooling and was possibly illiterate as he signed with an “X” when in 1873, in his 60s, he made an application for the NZ War Medal on behalf of his late son, John Hooper Allen. John had fought in the New Zealand Maori Wars.

It is thought that William had been given money by the Earl’s family to get out of England and go to New Zealand, which he did, sailing on the ‘Amelia Thompson’ with his wife (Prudence) and two children (Thomas and John), as steerage passengers in 1841. Steerage is a section of inferior accommodations in a passenger ship for passengers paying the lowest fares. It is not known whether the nobility was having a big ‘cleaning-out’ or whether William approached them to ask for financial help because he wished to go to New Zealand.

Because William’s father [Charles] had been dead for about twenty-five years, it is likely it would have been his [Charles] son, Philip, the 4th Earl Stanhope, who arranged the payment. At this time, Philip was the only other son still alive, and William could have stood to inherit the estates and title if anything happened to Philip.

Once in New Zealand, William and Prudence bought farmland in Mangorei Road, New Plymouth. They lived there until the Maori Wars, when they were advised to move into town for safety. William and Prudence never went back to their 75 acre farm and it was given to their third son, Sam, for £275. The Allen home was one of the few untouched and was held sacred (tapu) by the Maori after an accident there.

Prudence died at their home in Pendarves Street, New Plymouth in 1889. William died three and a half years later in 1893, at the home of his daughter Martha Oliver (nee Allen) at Mangorei, New Plymouth.

A full account of William’s life is given in Cynthia's book, “The Allen Family” and first published in 2005. William married Prudence Hooper in England and had five children:
- Thomas Allen b. 1838, Devon, England
- John Hooper Allen b. 1840, Devon, England
- William Samuel (Samuel) Allen b. 1843, New Plymouth, New Zealand
- Martha Allen b. 1849, New Plymouth, New Zealand
- William jnr. Allen b. 1856, New Plymouth, New Zealand

“The Allen Family” is an enormous volume of over six hundred pages (614 pages on 307 A4 sheets), full of genealogical detail, many stories, and many, many, photographs. It features the descendants of William and Prudence, including that of Martha Allen and husband Charles Oliver. Charles Oliver, b. 1843, was the youngest child of James and Ruth (nee Batten) Oliver.

There are eighty pages devoted to the Olivers. Charles and Martha had the following children:
- James William Oliver
- John Henry (Henry) Oliver
- Rachel Annie (Annie) Oliver
- Jessie May (May) Oliver
- Charles Allen (Allen) Oliver
- Lillian Emily Oliver
- Martha Daisy Oliver
- Harold Albert Oliver

Of interest to the Oliver descendants of Charles and Martha, is the extensive coverage of Martha's ancestry. On the Allen side that goes back through nobility of Earls and Knights including Guillaume de Colleville (William Crispin I) who was, “a Companion of William the Conqueror, in the Norman Invasion of England 1066AD”. “His name and that of his brother, Gilbert de Colleville, also a companion, is on the commemoration plaque in the chapel at Falaise Castle, Falaise, Normandy, France. The book features much research and coverage of this fascinating history.

“The Allen Family” is recommended reading, especially to descendants of Charles and Martha (nee Allen) Oliver. Copies are held at:
- The Puke Ariki Museum-Library in New Plymouth, New Zealand
- Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand
- The museum in Holdsworthy, Devon, England

In a telephone call on the 27 August 2021, Cynthia Glover advised Brian of nzolivers that copies for purchase, directly from her, are no longer available. There will not be another print run. Please see previous paragraph where copies are lodged.