Leslie Holdsworth Allen | |
---|---|
Born |
Maryborough, Victoria |
21 June 1879
Died | 5 January 1964 Moruya, New South Wales |
(aged 84)
Nationality | Australian |
Education |
Newington College University of Sydney |
Occupation | Professor & poet |
Spouse(s) | Dora (née Bavin) |
Children | A son and a daughter |
Parent(s) | Rev. William Allen |
Leslie Holdsworth Allen (21 June 1879 – 5 January 1964) was an Australian academic and poet. He was Professor of English at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, the senior lecturer of English and Latin at Canberra University College and chairman of the Literature Censorship Board.
Allen was born in Maryborough, Victoria, the second son of William Allen, a Congregational minister and the older brother of Sir Carleton Allen. He was eleven when his family moved to Sydney where he attended Newington College (1894–1899). He later attended the University of Sydney and the University of Leipzig.
In 1911, Allen was appointed as a senior lecturer in classics and English at Sydney Teachers College. After his marriage in 1915 to Dora Bavin (sister of Sir Thomas Bavin, Lancelot Bavin and Major Cyril Bavin OBE) he became professor of English at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. During his tenue at Duntroon he produced plays for the Canberra Society of Arts and Literature and wrote poetry and children's verse. In 1931, he became the sole lecturer in English and classics at Canberra University College (now the Australian National University).