Samuel Webster Allen (23 March 1844 – 13 May 1908) was an English bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the Bishop of Shrewsbury from 1897 to 1908. Born at 78 Lord Street,

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

on 23 March 1844, Allen was educated at St Mary's College, Oscott,His sketch in Mate's ''Shropshire, Part II: Historical, Descriptive, Biographical'' wrongly states it as "St Mary's College, Oxon" (i.e. Oxford, as in the university). then on scholarship entered the English College, Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on 4 December 1870. He served as reporting stenographer at the Vatican Councils in 1869-1870. He returned to England, where he was Secretary to the Provincial Council of the Archdiocese of Westminster in 1873. In October 1879 he came to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, Shropshire, as secretary to

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, then Bishop of Shrewsbury, and was appointed Canon at the Catholic Cathedral there in 1883. He was also active in town life as Vice-Chairman of the Shrewsbury School Board (established 1881) and of the Atcham Board of Guardians, and was for some 20 years Roman Catholic chaplain at Shrewsbury Prison. He gave up these public offices when he was appointed the Bishop of Shrewsbury by the Holy See on 16 June 1897. His

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

to the episcopate took place on 16 June 1897, the principal consecrator was Cardinal Herbert Vaughan,

Archbishop of Westminster The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

, and the principal co-consecrators were Edward Ilsley, Bishop (later Archbishop) of Birmingham and Francis Mostyn, Bishop of Menevia (later Archbishop of Cardiff). Allen died in office at the Cathedral House, Belmont, Shrewsbury of pneumonia, after being ill since the previous October, on 13 May 1908, aged 64 and was buried in the General Cemetery in Longden Road, Shrewsbury.

Ambrose Moriarty Ambrose James Moriarty (9 August 1870 – 3 June 1949) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of Shrewsbury from 1934 to 1949. Samuel Webster Allen, his predecessor as fourth bishop, was his uncle. Born at 3 ...

, the later sixth Bishop of Shrewsbury, also born in Stockport, was his nephew.Biographical sketch, Moriarty, Rt Rev Ambrose JamesObituary of Moriarty

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Samuel Webster 1844 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England People from Stockport Roman Catholic bishops of Shrewsbury English College, Rome alumni