ALLEN, THOMAS (1841-1936)

ALLEN, THOMAS, Methodist minister, Boiestown circuit, 1886-89, and Derby circuit, 1889-92; b. Long Clawson, Leicestershire, England, 2 Aug 1841, s/o John Allen and Mary Cooke; m. Mary E. Bishop, of Digby, N.S.; d. Moncton, 26 Dec 1936.

Thomas Allen entered the Methodist ministry in England in 1866 as a probationer and was sent that year to Newfoundland. He transferred to Nova Scotia in 1869 and was ordained at Yarmouth in 1870. His first assignment was at Petitcodiac, and he spent the next thirty-five years ministering in New Brunswick, mostly in rural communities. He was stationed at Keswick before taking over the Boiestown circuit in 1886, as successor to the Rev. Henry Penna. It is indicative of the incessant mobility of Methodist clergymen at that time that he was succeeded at Derby in 1892 by the same Mr Penna.

Allen retired in Petitcodiac in 1905 but later moved to Moncton, where he lived to age ninety-five. His wife, Mary E. Bishop, predeceased him by four years. He was survived by a son and four daughters.