Ralph Allen (abt. 1590)

Born about 1590 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Hester (English) Allen — married 6 May 1619 in London, England

Descendants

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Ralph Allen migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Caution: The subject of this profile has in the past frequently been confused with other Ralph Allens. Before editing, please be certain to carefully read the Research Notes below.

Little is known of the Ralph Allen of this profile beyond his marriage, at London in 1619, to the equally little-known Hester English. If of average marrying age for grooms of the day in 1619, he may have been born close to 1592, possibly (but speculatively) at or near London.

No record indicating his emigration, nor any certain record of his passing, nor of the passing of his wife, has been found to date (April 2023).

Research Notes

Disambiguation The Ralph Allen of this profile was formerly linked from the profile of Ralph Allen, Senior, of Sandwich, as Ralph Allen, “Junior" – who married a wife named Esther Swift at Sandwich about 1646. This profile’s subject is known to have married only Hester English. He and Ralph Allen, Junior – Allen-43736 – are two entirely distinct individuals.

This confusion apparently goes back at least half a century, as far as Clarence Almon Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Torrey, relying on other sources, posited the known spouse of this profile’s Ralph Allen, Hester English – the two were married in 1619 in London^[1] – as a first wife of the man who later married “Esther [SWIFT]” at Sandwich “by 1646(7?)”^[2]. But the husband of Esther Swift was Ralph Allen, Junior... who was, as that "Junior" clearly implies, born later than Ralph Allen, Senior. The profile for Ralph, Senior, estimates his date of birth as “about 1617”; the profile for Ralph, Junior, estimates his date of birth as “about 1621”. For the latter to have married anyone in 1619 is an obvious impossibility.

In fact, the Ralph Allen of this profile has no proven tie to Sandwich in the relevant time period. A claim originally appearing in the Biography of this profile that his wife Hester “is said to be the Hester Allen who died on 15 Jun 1640 in Sandwich” is not supported by any primary source to be currently found via NEHGS (americanancestors.org), ancestry.com, or familysearch.org: no such death record has to date (January 2023) been transcribed and registered in the database of any of these three major genealogical repositories.

Disputed Parentage This profile also previously connected its subject, as a likely son, with a John Allen – perhaps the John Allen christened in 1605, or perhaps one of an earlier generation – of Saltford, Somerset, England. No primary evidence has been found to date (Jan. 2023) in support of this assertion. Further, the introduction of a Saltford Allen family into the Sandwich picture – which has been considered by others, noting particularly the Saltford presence of a George Allen in the first decades of the 1600s^[3][4][5] – is largely undercut by experienced Allen researcher (and descendant of Ralph Allen, Senior) Jack MacDonald in a paper that is linked and downloadable from the website of the Allen DNA Patrilineage 2 Project. This George Allen appears, from records of legal proceedings, to have remained in Somerset in 1638, but his Sandwich namesake is proven to have by then already emigrated; and a descendant of the Saltford line of Allens who is familiar with that family’s genealogy informed MacDonald that no connection has been found between his lineage, and that of the primary Sandwich line – that of Ralph Allen, Senior^[6].

Additional Background For some background notes originally included in this profile, please see the free-space page at Background Notes, Biography for Allen-2292.

Sources

1. ↑ "ALLEN, Ralph1 & 1/wf Hester ENGLISH; St. Mary le Bow, London, 6 May 1619; Newport/Rehoboth/Sandwich {Allen (,2) 20, 22, 48, 59; Crapo 182, 852; Putnam's Mag. 1:289}" -- Vol. 1, p. 25, New England Marriages to 1700, Vol. 1, p. 25 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015; https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21174/25/426912092 (by subscription)
2. ↑ "ALLEN, Ralph1 & 2/wf Esther [SWIFT]; by 1646(/7?); Sandwich {MD 14:109, 166, 16:21; Allen (,2) 24; Allen (,16) 27; Noyes-Gilman 371; Cornell 314; Crapo 182; Gen. Adv. 3:35, 74; Swift 18; Sv. 1:35; Austin: GDRI 73; Cape Cod Lib. 15:18; Reg. 25:144}" -- Vol. 1, p. 25, New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015; https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21174/25/426874575 (by subscription)
3. ↑ George Allen, son of George: ”George Allen | Baptism | 15 Dec 1605 | Somerset | Saltford: St Mary : Parish Register”, FreeReg.org.UK, parish register transcribed by unspecified volunteer; https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_queries/63b775e4b620e0b168daa39f?locale=en
4. ↑ ”A Sandwich-Dartmouth-North Kingstown Allen Line”, by Bertha Clark, Boston, 1955; typescript held by NEHGS; see image #377 of 421 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XF-HNQ9?i=376&cat=118032
5. ↑ ’’Ancestral Lines, Third Edition’’, by Carl Boyer 3rd, Santa Clarita, CA, 1998 [not found accessible online as of Jan. 2023; print version known to be available at the State Library in San Francisco]
6. ↑ The ALLEN DNA Patrilineage 2 Project, as above; http://www.johnbrobb.com/JBR-ALLEN-R.htm [search on "The Allen Family: Descendants of George Allen", without quotes]