Person:John Allison (52)

Early life

John Allison was born in about 1644 in London. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge. He became a Fellow of King's College in 1664. In 1667 he wrote a poem in response to the Great Fire of London: Upon the late lamentable fire in London.^[2]

Ministry

On 18th December 1670 he was made a deacon, being ordained at Westminster Abbey.^[3] Just over a year later he became a priest, being ordained at Ely on 3rd March 1671/2.^[4] On Christmas Eve 1673 he was instituted as Rector of Kingston in Cambridgeshire, where King's College was the patron.^[5]

In 1676, he also became Vicar of Willian in Hertfordshire, being instituted on 30th October 1676, when he was also licensed to preach throughout the diocese of Lincoln.^[6] The parish registers for Willian appear to have been neglected during his tenure, with no baptisms, marriages or burials recorded the whole time he was vicar there. Given that it is over twenty miles from Kingston to Willian it is quite likely that he seldom visited Willian.

In 1682 a curate named Clarke was appointed at Kingston, perhaps indicating that Allison was less able to perform his duties there.^[7] Allison died the following year, aged about 39. He was succeeded at Willian by a Thomas Ward, instituted 11th June 1683, and at Kingston by a Simon Sayon, instituted 20th September 1683.

Epilogue

Another John Allison was appointed deacon at Willian on 30th June 1701, having been ordained at Buckden in Huntingdonshire three months earlier.^[8] This John Allison was also a graduate of King's College Cambridge, which he had attended between 1697 and 1701.^[9] It seems highly likely that this younger John Allison was a close relative of the elder John Allison, but the connection has not been established.

A road on the Jackmans Estate in Letchworth Garden City (within the former parish of Willian) is named Allison, after John Allison.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Venn, John, and John Archibald Venn. Alumni Cantabrigienses: a biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge: from the earliest times to 1900. (Cambridge, England: University Press, 1922-).

   Name: John Allison
   College: King's
   Entered: 1661
   Died: 1683
   Adm. at King's, a scholar from Eton, May 20, 1661, age 16. B. in London. Matric. 1661; B.A. 1664-5, M.A. 1668. Fellow, 1664. Ord. priest (Ely) Mar. 3, 1671-2. R. of Kingston, Cambs., 1674. R. of Willian, Herts., 1675-83. Died 1683.

2. ↑ Mercurius Politicus, accessed 4 Jan 2012. Includes a quote from the poem: Now all the foolish Engines play, / And all the water they convey, / Will not half its thirst allay, / So far they are from lessening its heat, / They serve but to digest its meat; / And still the surly flame doth fiercer hiss / By an Antiperistasis; / And with such ease defi'd / The smaller Conduits in full pride, / Towards his mortal foe he did in triumph ride.
3. ↑ Clergy of the Church of England Datbase, Person ID 85584, accessed 4 Jan 2012
4. ↑ Clergy of the Church of England Datbase, Person ID 4649, accessed 4 Jan 2012
5. ↑ ibid.
6. ↑ Clergy of the Church of England Datbase, Person ID 85581, accessed 4 Jan 2012
7. ↑ Clergy of the Church of England Datbase, Person ID 5181, accessed 4 Jan 2012
8. ↑ Clergy of the Church of England Datbase, Person ID 85582, accessed 4 Jan 2012
9. ↑ Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 (Ancestry.co.uk) John Allison, King's College, entered Lent 1697 Matric. sizar from King's, Lent, 1697; B.A. 1700-1. Ord. deacon (Lincoln) June 29, 1701; C. of Willian, Herts.