Eleanor Marian Dundas Allen (18 January 1892 – 12 September 1953GRO Registry of Deaths, UK.) was a British writer, the author of the poem now known as "''The Wind on the Downs''" published in a small 63-page book of poems of the same name. Allen was born at Toxteth Park (now St Scholastica's School),

Glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

, Sydney, the daughter of George Boyce Allen, a barrister, and Isabella Dundas Allen.

Life

Allen was born at Toxteth Park, the Sydney family estate of the Allen family who were prominent in the colony of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The patriarch, George Allen, who had died in 1877, was himself the son of the physician of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

and had established the oldest law firm in Australia. By 1908, the parents of Marian Allen with their family of six children (three boys and three girls) were living in Woodstock Road,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. It was here in 1913–14 that Marian first met Arthur Tylston Greg, whom she was to have married and to whom, under the initials A. T. G. her book of poems was dedicated. Like Marian Allen's brother, George Dundas Allen, Arthur Greg was studying Law at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

and it seems likely that they first met when Arthur Greg visited his fellow student's house. In August 1914, on the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Arthur Greg and Dundas (as Marian Allen's brother was known) abandoned their studies and joined the army. Arthur fought in the battles around the Hill 60 in Belgium and in May 1915 was badly wounded when part of his lower jaw was shot away. By 1916, Dundas Allen had joined the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. Arthur Greg also joined the Royal Flying Corps where, as Captain Greg, he trained to fly the D.H.4

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

. He was shot down over St Quentin on

St George's Day Saint George's Day is the Calendar of saints, feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, regions, and cities of which he is the Patronages of Saint George, patron saint, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bu ...

, 1917. He is buried at Jussy cemetery with an inscription chosen by the next-of-kin: "LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH". Marian Allen heard the news on either 30 April or 1 May, and some of her finest poems, many of them

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

s, were written almost immediately afterward. "''To A. T. G.''" was finished on 2 May, and "''I like to think of you...''" on 10 May. In the 1920s, and 1930s, Marian Allen became a successful author/illustrator of children's books such as ''The Wind in the Chimney'', ''Joy Street'' volumes etc., writing mainly for Blackwell. She also designed the dust wrappers for numbers 5 to 11 of the ''Joy Street'' volumes. During much of this time she was living in London with her family at 35

Harrington Gardens Harrington Gardens is a street which has a communal garden regionally sometimes known as a garden square in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. The street runs from Collingham Gardens and Collingham Road in the east to Glouc ...

(now the London base of

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca (town), New York, Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a Music school, conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment program ...

). Later in life, she returned to Woodstock Road in Oxford where she died unmarried on 12 September 1953.

Quotation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Marian 1892 births 1953 deaths Writers from Sydney Artists from Oxford Writers from Oxford Australian emigrants to England English women poets English children's writers English illustrators 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers Australian expatriates in England