John Allen (miner)

John Allen (born 7 May 1775; date of death unknown) was a lead miner, notable as a junior member of the party of naturalists that accompanied the 1801–1803 voyage of HMS Investigator under Matthew Flinders.

Born in Ashover, Derbyshire on 7 May 1775, John Allen was the sixth of ten children of lead miner James Allen and his wife Elizabeth née Boome. The Allens live in a cottage at Overton, and James Allen was employed nearby at the Gregory Mine. John Allen apparently began working at the mine at the age of twelve, initially cleaning flues, and probably later becoming a labourer in the cope gang led by his eldest brother James. Not much else is known of his early life, but the fact that he could write quite well suggests that he was unusually well educated in literacy for a lead miner.

In 1801, the British Admiralty decided to mount an expedition to survey New Holland (that is, western parts of Australia) and New South Wales (eastern parts of Australia), to determine whether these were parts of a single land mass, and to search for river systems that might offer access to the interior. The expedition was also to carry a full complement of naturalists, including a mineralogist and, to assist him, a "practical miner". Sir Joseph Banks was given the authority to select naturalists for the voyage, and seems not to have sought a mineralogist. Instead, he wrote to his uncle, William Milnes, who managed his estate at Overton, asking him to find "a person who engages in the mineral line". The first person Milnes engaged later pulled out, and Milnes subsequently selected Allen for the position. Writing to notify Banks of his choice on 4 February 1801, Milnes described Allen as "... a young man a neighbour whose name is John Allen and who is an ingenious Lad and understands blasting and boring and likewise the nature and construction of Engines—upon ye whole he is I am certain the very man for your office...."

Allen signed his employment contract in the presence of Banks on 29 April 1801, together with the other members of the party of naturalists: Robert Brown, naturalist; Ferdinand Bauer, natural history artist; William Westall, landscape artist; and Peter Good, horticulturist. Allen was to answer to Brown, would receive an annual salary of £100, and was messed and accommodated with the warrant officers. However the Investigator ended up carrying no warrant officers, so Allen was permitted to mess with the officers. Two unoccupied cabins in the cockpit ended up being allocated to Allen and Good.

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