The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Allen, Hon. George
Allen, Hon. George, M.L.C., was the son of Dr. Richard Allen, physician to George III., and was born in London in Nov. 1800. He arrived in New South Wales in Jan. 1816, and was the first attorney and solicitor admitted by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. This took place on July 26th, 1822, and he had much difficulty in maintaining his status against the English-bred attorneys who desired to monopolise the practice. He married in 1823, and was elected Alderman of the Brisbane Ward in the first corporation of the city of Sydney in 1842, acting as third Mayor of the city in 1845. In the latter year he was nominated to a seat in the old Legislative Council, and was appointed honorary Police Magistrate of the City and Port. In 1856 he became a member of the present Legislative Council, and was elected Chairman of Committees, an office which he resigned in 1873, along with his membership of the Council of Education, which he had held since 1866. He assisted in founding Sydney College, and held office on the governing body for many years. In 1859 he was elected a member of the Senate of the University, to which he bequeathed £1000 for a scholarship for proficiency in mathematics in the second year. Mr. Allen, who was a prominent member of the Wesleyan-Methodist body, died at Toxteth Park Glebe on Nov. 3rd, 1877.