Ernest Gladstone Allen

• Birth date            29 December 1881 at Croydon, Surrey
• Marriage (1)         2 October 1907 to Frederica Tilzey,(1883 -1946) daughter of Frederick Tilzey, at Great Ayton, Yorkshire.
• Marriage (2)         12 December 1947 to Louisa Anna Frances Wright (1885-1958), at Reigate Registry Office, Reigate, Surrey.
• Marriage (3)         24 July 1962 to Monique Marie Loucie D'Aigneault, )1913-) daughter of Oscar D'Aigneault, at Crowborough Register Office, Sussex and Friends Meeting House, East Grinstead.
• Death date          13 October 1964

Ernest Gladstone Allen was born on 29 December 1881 at Croydon, Surrey, the son of Alfred Henry Allen and his wife Marie. He was educated at Whitgift Grammar School, Croydon, and at Bootham, School, York, between 1897 and 1899, before being articled to Christopher Mitchell Shiner ARIBA 1899-1903, remaining as his assistant. During this period, he attended the AA Schools and travelled in France and Belgium. Hw was elected Associate of the RIBA on 5 December 1904: proposed by F R Farrow, E G Dawber, and D G Driver. The following year he joined George Lionel Pepler in partnership, commencing practise as an architect and surveyor at Croydon, under the style Pepler and Allen.

Between 1905 and 1914 Pepler and Allen won a number of medals for schemes of model housing estates and cottages. After George Pepler left to take up the position of Town Planning Inspector with the Local Government Board, Ernest Allen continued his work in partnership, first with Longstreth Thompson and later with David Hillen and Alfred Potter. Much of the work done was concerned with local authority housing schemes. Town Planning Advisor to Hunslet Rural District Council, Tadcaster Rural District Council, Bromley Rural District Council, Tilbury Urban District Council, and Couldsdon and Purley Urban District Council. In 1932 a joint committee of Kettering Rural District Council and Northamptonshire County Council was formed to prepare a town-planning scheme for Corby and they in turn appointed Allen and Potter. It was decided to include in the scheme an area of 8,868 acres, embracing several parishes besides Corby, and to plan for a town of about 30,000 inhabitants.

Although still in partnership with George Pepler and for reasons still to be determined, Ernest Allen removed to Swansea where he had established a branch office by March 1910.  In March 1913 Allen applied unsuccessfully for the post of architect to the Swansea Corporation. {Cambrian Daily Leader 31 March 1913 page 5] suggesting that the partnership was in some difficulty. Following the departure of George Pepler,  Allen returned to London in 1914 or 1915. The practice was initially continued under the style of Pepler and Allen but subsequently became Ernest Allen and Partners.

Ernest Allen was elected a Fellow of the RIBA on 10 June 1912: proposed by J M Andrew, E L Lutyens, W C Green, and in 1936-1937 he was President of the RTPI, following in the footsteps of his previous partners George Pepler (1919-1920) and Francis Longstreth Thompson (1932-1933

On 13 Octiber 1964 Ernest Gladstone Allen died in hospital in Sussex at the age of 82.

Address:
1905-1909    Pepler and Allen 3 George Street, Croydon, Surrey
1908            Pepler and Allen, 3 George Street, Croydon and 37 Queen Victoria Street London EC
1911-1912    7 Gower Street, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales
1913-1914    14 Fisher Street, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales    
1915-1923    Howard House, 4 Arundel Street, Strand, London WC
1924-1925    11 Arundel Street, Strand, London WC (1926)
1927-1936    Allen and Potter 11 Arundel Street, Strand, London WC

Residence
1891             Wellesley Road, Croydon, Surrey
1901-1904    10 Morland Road, Croydon, Surrey
1906             Wandle Court, Beddington, Surrey  
1911-1912    Stone Cottage, Garden City Town Hill, Swansea
1914             Chingley, Park Gate Road, Wallington, Surrey