Person:Alice Allen (28)

Alice Sarah Allen was born on 11th March 1882 at Paddington in Middlesex, in the inner western suburbs of London, daughter of a nurse called Sarah Jane Allen, formerly Lewis, and her husband Peter Allen, a horse dealer. Alice was the second of the couple's four children, all of whom were baptised on 7th February 1886 at St Barnabas's Church in Marylebone, when they were living at 27 Redland Mews. The family was still living there the following year, when Alice started school shortly after her fifth birthday, attending Bell Street School.

The 1891 census finds Alice living with her parents and siblings at 2 Adpar Mews in Paddington. The family was still at Adpar Mews ten years later, by which time Alice was working as a domestic servant.

Alice was married on 7th August 1902 at St Mary's Church in Paddington to a gas works stoker named Edward Syrad. They had probably known each other since childhood, as he had spent part of his childhood living on Adpar Street. In 1903 they had a son, Edward Albert, followed by another son in 1904. Sadly Edward Albert died in 1905, aged two. Shortly after his death Alice had a daughter. About the same time, Alice's father Peter died.

Edward died in 1909 in the Fulham area of London. He was only 28 years old. Alice was left with the two surviving children to look after.

The 1911 census finds Alice living with her mother and two children at 22 Earl Street in Marylebone, where they had just two rooms. Alice was working as a tailor. The following year she remarried. Her second husband was a horse keeper named Peter Curtis. They had a son in 1913.

In April 1915, a few months in to the Great War, Peter joined the army. He was posted to the Army Service Corps depot in Ormskirk. He was absent for a week in May 1915, then deserted on 3rd July 1915. It seems highly likely he returned home to Alice in London - nine months and a day after he deserted she gave birth to a daughter. Two months after his desertion Peter returned to the army, and was subject of a Court Martial for deserting and losing his kit. After his Court Martial he appears to have served for almost a year, before being discharged in September 1916 on the grounds that he was no longer physically fit enough to serve.

At the time Peter joined up he was living at 5 Malden Road in the Kentish Town area of London. Whilst he was serving Alice and the children appear to have moved twice judging by the next of kin details on his service records; first to 14 Aybrook Street in Marylebone, then to Windsor Buildings on Horace Street (formerly Cato Street - it reverted to its old name in the 1930s).

After the Great War, Alice and Peter appear to have lived at 7 Windsor Buildings continuously from at least 1921 to 1939. They had a third child in 1921.

Peter died in the Paddington area of London in 1943, aged 66, during the Second World War. Alice outlived him by thirteen years, appearing in the electoral rolls after the war with her children at 30 Delamere Terrace in Paddington, overlooking the Grand Union Canal. Alice's younger brother Thomas also lived there. Alice died in Paddington 1956, aged 74.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Alice Sarah ALLEN, June Quarter 1882, Kensington Registration District, Volume 1a, page 11

2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Marylebone, Middlesex, England. Parish Registers of St Barnabas.

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of [Marylebone St Barnabas] in the County of [Middlesex] in the year One thousand eight hundred and [eighty six]
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   97	1886 February 7 (Born March 11 1881)	Alice Sarah	Peter & Sarah	Allen	27 Redland Mews	Dealer	J. Alfred Nash

   Baptised same day as siblings Beatrice, Thomas and Peter. Whilst Alice's date of birth quoted on the baptism record says she was born in 1881 this conflicts with when her birth was registered and the age she was said to be in the 1891 census - plus if she'd been born on 11th March 1881 one would expect to find her with her parents in the 1881 census on 3rd April 1881. Her school admission in 1887 gave her date of birth as 11 March 1882.

3. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 4; Folio 34; Page 61, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 2 Adpar Mews, Paddington, London
   Two rooms occupied
   Peter Allen, head, married, male, 41 [1849/50], Dealer, b. Edgware, Middlesex
   Sarah Allen, wife, married, female, 40 [1850/1], b. Ashley, Bedfordshire
   Alice Allen, daughter, single, female, 8 [1882/3], Scholar, b. Paddington
   Peter Allen, son, single, male, 10 [1880/1], Scholar, b. Paddington
   Thomas Allen, son, single, male, 5 [1885/6], Scholar, b. Paddington

4. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1; Folio 114; Page 2, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: Adpar Mews, Paddington, London
   Three rooms occupied
   Peter Allen, head, married, male, 52 [1848/9], Groom stableman, b. Edgware, Middlesex
   Sarah Allen, wife, married, female, 50 [1850/1], b. Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire
   Alice Allen, daughter, single, female, 18 [1882/3], Servant domestic, b. Paddington, London
   Beatrice Allen, daughter, single, female, 17 [1883/4], Servant domestic, b. Paddington, London
   Thomas Allen, son, single, male, 16 [1884/5], Shop boy, b. Marylebone, London

5. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), (formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 565; Schedule 23, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 22 Earl Street, Marylebone, London
   Two rooms occupied
   Sarah Allen, head, female, 57 [1843/4], widow, b. Aspley, Bedfordshire
   Alice Syrad, daughter, female, 29 [1881/2], widow, Tailoress, worker, b. Paddington
   Fred Syrad, grandson, male, 7 [1903/4], b. Paddington
   Alice Syrad, granddaughter, female, 5 [1905/6], b. Marylebone

6.   London, England. Electoral Registers 1832-1965.

   1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929
   7 Windsor Buildings, Horace Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice
   Curtis, Peter
   
   1930, 1931, 1933 and 1934
   7 Windsor Buildings, Horace Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice Sarah
   Curtis, Peter
   
   1935, 1936 and 1937
   7 Windsor Buildings, Cato Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice Sarah
   Curtis, James Peter
   Curtis, Peter
   
   1938 and 1939
   7 Windsor Buildings, Cato Street, Marylebone
   Curtis, Alice Sarah
   Curtis, Peter
   
   1945
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Christian, Anne
   Cobbett, Clara H.
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Curtis, Margaret
   Driscoll, Celia
   Faulkner, Rosa S.
   Law, Maud H.
   Magill, Selina
   
   1946
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Christian, Anne
   Christian, Myra
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Cunningham, Leslie L.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Curtis, Margaret
   Driscoll, Celia
   Faulkner, Rosa S.
   Fripp, Walter, William
   Law, Maud H.
   Magill, Selina
   
   1947
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Christian, Myra
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Curtis, Margaret
   Driscoll, Celia
   Faulkner, Rosa S.
   Law, Maud H.
   Magill, Selina
   
   1948 and 1949
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Bedbrook, Basil S.
   Christian, Anne
   Christian, Myra
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Driscoll, Celia
   Faulkner, Rosa S.
   Law, Maud H.
   Makin, Herbert
   Winch, John T.
   
   1950
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Bedbrook, Basil S.
   Christian, Anne
   Christian, Myra
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Driscoll, Celia
   Faulkner, Rosa S.
   Law, Mary H.
   Makin, Herbert
   Winch, John T.
   
   1951
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Christian, Anne
   Christian, Myra
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Driscoll, Celia
   Faulkner, Rosa S.
   Law, Mary H.
   Makin, Herbert
   Winch, John T.
   
   1952
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Christian, Anne
   Christian, Myra
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Driscoll, Celia
   Law, Mary H.
   Makin, Herbert
   Spadi, William
   Winch, John T.
   
   1953 and 1954
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Christian, Anne
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Driscoll, Celia
   Law, Mary H.
   Makin, Herbert
   Spadi, William
   Winch, John T.
   
   1955 and 1956
   30 Delamere Terrace, Paddington
   Allen, Thomas
   Christian, Anne
   Cobbett, Phyllis M.
   Curtis, Alice S.
   Curtis, James P.
   Holding, Frederick C.
   Law, Mary H.
   Makin, Herbert
   Spadi, William
   Winch, John T.

7. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Alice S. CURTIS, September Quarter 1956, Paddington Registration District, Volume 5d, page 146, aged 74 [1881/2]

8.   Bell Street School registers, in London, England. School Admissions and Discharges, 1840-1911.

   Date of admission: 4 Apr 1887
   Name: Alice Allen
   Parent or Guardian: Peter Allen
   Residence: 27 Redlan [sic] Mews
   Date of birth: 11 Mar 1882