Ebenezer "Eben" Allen (15 November 1868 – 20 May 1931) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1911 to 1917, representing the seat of West Perth. Allen was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, to Mary Selina (née Cant) and Joseph Allen. He attended Glenelg Grammar School (run by F. I. Caterer), and after leaving school worked for various Adelaide firms. Allen married Effie Marian Conigrave in 1895 (with whom he later had two children), and in 1899 moved to Western Australia to work for her father, J. Fairfax Conigrave. He eventually went into business on his own, as an auctioneer, real estate agent, and shipping agent. He became secretary of the Perth Chamber of Commerce, and was also a director of a local

building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization, which offers banking institution, banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage loan, mortgage lending. They exist in the Unit ...

. Allen served on the Perth City Council from 1904 to 1912 and again from 1915 to 1918. He first ran for parliament at the 1908

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

elections, but lost to Arthur Jenkins in

Metropolitan Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, jurisdiction in Christianity, Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical struc ...

.Ebenezer Allen
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2016. At the 1911 state election, Allen was elected to parliament running for the newly formed

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. He replaced the retiring member in West Perth, Thomas Draper. Allen was re-elected at the 1914 election, but at the 1917 election was opposed by Draper, who had decided he wished to resume his parliamentary career. Both he and Draper stood for the Nationalist Party, which had been created earlier in the year, but Draper was more popular, winning back his former seat with 53.3 percent of the

first-preference vote A first-preference is a voter's most-preferred candidate. In certain ranked systems such as first preference plurality, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and the single transferable vote, first preferences for a candidate are considered most important ...

. Allen recontested West Perth at the 1921 election, but polled only the third-highest number of votes. Draper lost his seat regardless, with the winning candidate,

Edith Cowan Edith Dircksey Cowan (' Brown; 2 August 1861 – 9 June 1932) was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament. C ...

, becoming the first female member of parliament in Australia. Allen died in Perth in May 1931, aged 62. He killed himself with a gunshot to the head on the Perth Esplanade, having had business troubles and been in poor physical health."MR. EBEN ALLEN'S DEATH."
''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', 6 June 1931.

References

1868 births 1931 suicides Businesspeople from Western Australia Australian politicians who died by suicide Deaths by firearm in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Politicians from Adelaide Businesspeople from Adelaide Suicides by firearm in Australia Suicides in Western Australia Perth City Councillors 1931 deaths {{Australia-Nationalist-politician-stub