CFHS code : BE15
Parish : St Bene’t
Inscription : ELIZABETH ROSE ALLEN d 24 May 1915 in her 62nd year JOHN HIGGINS ALLEN husband of the above b Aug 9th 1841 d June 25th 1917
Monument : Stone cross (base only)
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202441, 0.1372145 – click here for location
Monument
This small plinth with missing cross stands 1 row west of the central path in the parish of St Bene’t. It has been covered by ivy for many years and we were not able to see the monument or check the inscription. This picture shows the headstone of Mary Turner which is 1 plot to the north behind the large cross of Samuel Lewis.
Inscription
ELIZABETH ROSE ALLEN d 24 May 1915 in her 62nd year
JOHN HIGGINS ALLEN husband of the above b Aug 9th 1841 d June 25th 1917
John Higgins Allen (9 August 1841 – 25 June 1917)
John was born in London and was the only son of Rev. John (1810-1886) and Harriet Higgins. His father was a Mathematical lecturer at Kings College London, who later became Vicar of Prees, Shropshire [1846-1883] and then Archdeacon of Shropshire. John grew up with his eight sisters, who all had very exotic names such as Andalusia Frances, Beatrice Jullian, Anna Otter and Harriet Octavia.
John Higgins [Jnr] went to Eton, and then up to Trinity College Cambridge like his father, who had been a contemporary of Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Thackeray. He obtained his BA in 1864 and MA in 1867 and was called to the Bar in 1866. He practised as a barrister.
He was the 1st Clerk to the Charity Commission from 1875 – 1907. He worked in London, living in Westminster [1871] and then 5 Durham Place, Chelsea [1891]. He married Elizabeth Rose Walker on 16 August 1894 at the age of 53. They continued to live at 5 Durham Place before retiring to 48 Lensfield Road, Cambridge. He died at Lensfield Road in 1917 leaving effects of £29,393 (c.£3.3m at 2024 values). He left ‘the maid in his employ such a sum as will equal her earnings during her employment by him’.
John’s sister Grace lived in Newnham from at least 1911 onwards, and died in Cambridge in December 1923.
Elizabeth Rose Allen (née Walker) (c1854 – 24 May 1915)
Elizabeth was born in Manchester and was the daughter of engineer William Walker and his wife Mary (née Anderson). She married John Higgins at Christ Church, Sutton, Surrey in 1894 when she was 40 years old. She committed suicide in the bathroom of 48 Lensfield Road aged 61 years.
Elizabeth’s younger brother William Anderson Walker (1863-1912) had emigrated to New Jersey with his wife Frances. He boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a first class passenger (ticket 36967, cost £34, 0s, 5d) occupying Cabin D-46. His body was never identifed after the sinking and the incident was said to have put Elizabeth in a ‘depressed and melancholy state’. The sinking of RMS Lusitania on 7 May 1915, when it was torpedoed by a German U-Boat, had ‘recalled the tragedy’ and Elizabeth had suffered from insomnia since the Lusitania had sunk. John had attempted to resustitate her, but to no avail. Dr Malden told the inquest that she had also attempted to take her own life in 1911, and had told him ‘that her sister had committed suicide and that she was afraid she might do the same. The depression and melancholy from with Mrs Allen suffered was mostly hereditary’ The Borough Coroner returned a verdict of ‘suicide during temporary insanity’.
Elizabeth’s sister Mary Hayward Walker (1859-1899) studied at Newnham College, Cambridge. She committed suicide whilst living with John and Elizabeth at Durham Place in June 1899. John Allen was the key witness at the inquest and testified that her ‘health had been far from good’. She had taught at the Manchester High Schools, but her health had broken down and she had left the teaching profession. He told the inquest that Mary ‘was never cheerful and melancholia was very marked’. The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of ‘suicide during temporary insanity’ and she was buried in Withington, Manchester.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]