Allen, Albert Thomas Trevor, d 1983 (journalist)
Dates
- Existence: d 1983
Biography
Albert Thomas Trevor Allen (d. 1983) was born in Brompton. He left school at 14 and worked initially at a junior job in the Mechanical Engineer's Department, District Underground Railway. He wrote satirical verses for A.R. Orage's New age, and met literary people while working for two years as a shorthand-typist in C.F. Cazenove's Literary Agency. Early in 1915 he enlisted with the R.A.M.C. Field Ambulance. He began writing articles on army life for the Daily chronicle, which he continued while serving with the 11th Welsh Fusiliers on the Doiran front, Salonica, which later gave him the background material for his novel Jade elephants. Allen was demobilized in 1919, and worked as a free-lance contributor to the Daily chronicle, Sunday observer, and other papers and magazines. He took the University of London's two-year journalist's course on his ex-Service grant, before becoming a Fleet Street reporter for 7 years on the morning Westminster gazette. From this came his first book, Underground, a biography of Soho criminal Grant Richards. He was invited to join the Daily chronicle as literary Editor, editing the leader page. He left to edit the London opinion, before work as a free-lance, mainly for the Newnes and Pearson magazines. He was also Book Reviewer for the John O'London weekly, and for many years wrote regular reviews for the Daily telegraph and Contemporary review. He was Chairman of the London Writer Circle. Allen died on 23 Nov. 1983. Allen's works include the books Underworld: the biography of Charles Brooks, criminal (1931), Ivar Kreuger (1932), The tracks they trod: Salonika and the Balkans, Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine revisited (1932), Jade elephants (1934), London lover: songs of a city's romance (1947) (verse), We loved in Bohemia (1953), and Roads to success (1957).