CFHS code : PL300
Parish : St Paul
Inscription : In Loving Memory of ALBERT ATKIN ALLEN b June 20th 1848 and was suddenly killed at Spalding June 20th 1888 also of SARAH ALLEN wife of the above d Aug 21st 1916 aged 74 also of FLORENCE ELIZABETH ALLEN ———
Monument : Headstone
Above information amended from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
Inscription
Albert Atkin Allen (20 June 1848 – 20 June 1888)
Albert was born in Ely and baptised at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Ely on 21 July 1848. He married Sarah Simpson in 1869 and they had one son Oliver Morgan (known as Morgan) (1871-1941). Albert worked as a railway engine driver and they lived at Broad Street (1871) and Railway Terrace, Norwich Street (1875 onwards). He was killed in a work related accident just outside Spalding station. He was working on the 10.50am Great Eastern Express train to Doncaster and ‘got upon the coals in the tender for some purpose. About 300 yards from the platform the line passes under an iron footbridge. (He) had his back to the engine and did not observe the bridge….he was knocked to the ground’.
His funeral took place on 27 June and a procession left from his home in Norwich Street, followed by around 30 of Albert’s work colleagues. A service was held at the graveside and ‘the service was a very impressive one’. On the following Sunday a funeral sermon was held at the Hills Road Wesleyan Chapel where he worshipped. A large number of his work colleagues also attended this service ‘for the purpose of signifying their regard and esteem for the poor fellow who had so suddenly been taken from their midst’.
Sarah Allen (née Simpson) (1842 – 21 August 1916)
Sarah was born in Sudbury, the only daughter of John and Amelia Simpson. Her father was a missionary and she grew up at North Street, Sudbury (1851) and then Haverhill (1861) when her father became minister of a Chapel in the town. After she was widowed she lived at 3 Swansea Terrace, Mill Road with her son, brother Charles and his family. By 1901 she was living at 271 Mill Road with son Morgan and daughter in law Florence. She died at 84 St. Philip’s Road (Morgan’s home) aged 74 years old
Florence Elizabeth Kitchiner Allen (née Wheeler) (1869-February 1938)
Florence was the daughter of Henry (1846 -1903) and Elizabeth (née Kitchiner) (1846 -1892) and was born in Holloway, London but was raised in Cambridge. Her father was a carpenter and she grew up at Madingley Road (1871), 73 Kingston Street (1881) and 2 Eckworth Villas, Cavendish Road (1891). Florence married (Oliver) Morgan Allen in 1897 and they had at least one daughter: Daisy (1904-). Morgan worked as an engine fitter’s assistant and they lived at 271 Mill Road (1901) and 84 St. Philip’s Road (at least 1911 onwards). Florence died at Mill Road Infirmary aged 68 years old and was buried on 10 February 1938.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen
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