Allen, John
John Allen was born 1 April 1883 in County Down, Ireland. His father was noted in John’s war record to have died while he was a child, along with a brother and a sister. John’s mother, Ellen Aitken, was noted as living at 22 St Leonard Street, Belfast Ireland at the time of enlistment, and that his sister Jean was living with her. In his obituary, his family was listed as his mother, brother Robert, sister Jean and half-brother Samuel Scott. John was married to Clara Helen Webb in 1906 and they had two children, Kathleen and Cecil, who all survived him.
After serving in the Royal Irish Guards from 1901 to 1907, John was released due to illness, and then immigrated to Canada in 1908 with his wife and daughter. Upon arriving in Lindsay, he was employed as a fireman with CPR, and enlisted with the 45th Victoria Regiment. On 24 February 1915, he enlisted in Lindsay ON with the 109th, and became the battalion Sergeant-Major and warrant officer. He crossed to England with the unit where he served for 2 years as an instructor, before being invalided back to Canada because of his ongoing illness in 1918.
Once back in Canada, he was first treated at Queens Military Hospital, which is now Grant Hall on the Queens University campus in Kingston ON. Shortly after that, he was sent for specialized treatment nearby at the Sir Oliver Mowat Memorial Tuberculosis Sanatorium. His condition steadily became much worse, and he was allowed to return home to his family in Lindsay. On 9 August 1918, John died in his home at 68 Adelaide Street South. From the account in the Lindsay Evening Post, the funeral was a huge event, starting from the home and proceeding to St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Lindsay.
John Allen is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Lindsay ON. He was 35 years old.
