William Beriah Allen (1873–1922), son of Wiliam Allen, who inherited the Benthall Pottery Company after the death of his father in 1907.
Image: Cameron Penn: Staffordshire and Shropshire at the Opening of the Twentieth Century: Contemporary Biographies (Brighton, 1907)
William Beriah Allen (1873–1922)
Active at the Benthall Pottery Company: c.1894–1922
Born at Benthall on 21 December 1873, William Beriah Allen was the only son of William Allen (1834–1907). Some accounts wrongly give his date of birth as 1875, but his birth certificate clearly shows he was born in 1873.
William Beriah was educated at Ellesmere College, Ellesmere, Shropshire, and then at Hertford College, Oxford University. He never graduated as
“… his father required his assistance in business and his career at the University was determined before he had completed the full number of terms …” (obituary, Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 1922).
By 1894, aged 21, William Beriah was working in the family business at his father’s Benthall Pottery Company, as is made clear in a lengthy article in the Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News, 29 December 1894, which records his coming-of-age party on the occasion of his twenty-first birthday. The article is reproduced in full below:
On the evening of the 21st inst. a very interesting event took place at the Benthall and Haybrook Potteries, the occasion being the coming of age of Mr. William Beriah Allen (son of Mr. William Allen, the esteemed proprietor of the works). At 6.30 p.m. the whole of the employees sat down to a first-class tea, provided by Mr. and Mrs. W. Allen. This being over, Mr. James E. Hartshorne was called upon to take the chair. At this juncture Mr. and Mrs. W. Allen, Mr. W. B. Allen, and Miss Allen, entered the meeting and received quite an ovation.
The enthusiasm having somewhat subsided, the Chairman stated the object of their gathering that evening, viz., to present in the names of the whole of the employees (all of whom were present) to Mr. W. B. Allen a beautiful illuminated address, designed by Mr. Ernest Robert Hartshorne, the whole being ably executed by himself and his two brothers, Messrs. Arthur J. and J. Wenger Hartshorne, and considered by those best able to judge to be a splendid work of art bearing the following inscription:
"Presented to Mr. W. B. Allen, on his 21st birthday, by the employees of the Benthall and Haybrook Potteries, with their heartiest wishes for his future welfare. It is with pleasure they review the 32 years his esteemed father and grandfather have held the works, and hope the same good feeling will continue for many years between employer and employed. Praying that God will bless with prosperity and happiness the whole family.
On behalf of the workpeople,
H. FORSTER, J. E. HARTSHORNE, Dec. 21, 1894”
The address was accompanied with a most elegant and valuable gold watch and chain, and an autograph album containing a list of the subscribers. The Chairman said he thought that meeting was strong evidence of the cordiality and good feeling that existed between employer and employed at the Benthall and Haybrook Potteries, and he felt sure that the matter that they were attending to that evening would in no degree lessen that bond of union, but rather tend to cement and strengthen the same, thus promoting the mutual advantage of both.
Mr. Thomas Jones, in a feeling speech, presented the address, and Mr. John Denstone, sen., the watch and chain. The album was presented by Mr. Henry Forster, sen.
Mr. W. B. Allen replied in an appropriate speech, thanking them one and all for their valuable presents, but more especially for the good feeling which prompted them, and above all for the kindly sentiments expressed in the address. He could assure them that nothing should be wanting on his part in furtherance of the interests of them all. He sat down amidst much applause.
Mr. W. Allen then addressed the meeting. He said it gave him the greatest pleasure possible to witness the kindness they had shown towards his son, and he heartily thanked them also for the kind way that they had referred to himself, his wife and family, and to his dear old father, who was now lying upon what he feared was his deathbed at Rhyl. He would greatly rejoice to hear of these kindly expressions, and they were highly appreciated by his own wife and family. He was glad to say that trade had been good with them the last 12 months, and this he attributed in a great measure to the tact and energy displayed by his son, and the hearty co-operation of the workpeople, and if this was continued they had nothing to fear – all would be benefited.
Mr. John Wild, in a felicitous speech, proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Allen for the excellent tea they had provided them with, which was ably seconded by Mr. Henry Austin, and carried with cheers.
It is interesting to note how the illuminated address, presented to William Beriah, refers to the Allen family business by its old name, the “Benthall and Haybrook Potteries”. The address also refers to William Beriah’s father (William) and grandfather (Beriah) as having “held the works”. Other than this tantalising reference, there’s no direct evidence to link Beriah Allen senior to the pottery works at Benthall. He was, though, a brickmaker in Benthall in the 1850s (see William Allen biography).
In 1907, following the death of his father, William Beriah inherited the family pottery business. In the 1911 census he is recorded as an "earthenware manufacturer", and in the 1913 edition of Kelly’s Directory he is listed as the manager of the Benthall Pottery Company.
William Beriah was a talented amateur naturalist and a founder member of the British Mycological Society. Two species of fungi are named in his honour:
- Cudoniella allenii – collected in Shropshire, 1907;
- Omphalia allenii – collected at Baslow, Derbyshire, 1909.
In addition, he made the first identifications of several fungi species previously unrecorded in Britain, many of which he observed in the vicinity of Broseley.
William Beriah Allen married Mary Joyce Allen on 24 May 1917, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. They did not have children. He died at Benthall on 20 November 1922, aged 49, and was buried in the familiy grave at Benthall Church.
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Selected sources
William Beriah Allen birth certificate: birth 21 December 1873, birth registered by father, William Allen, 31 January 1874
Account of coming-of-age of William Beriah Allen: Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News, 29 December 1894
Cudoniella allenii named for William Beriah Allen: Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 1907
Omphalia allenii named for William Beriah Allen: Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 1910
'William Beriah Allen (1875–1922)' obituary, by Carleton Rea: Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 1922
Obituary: Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News, 9 December 1922