Frederick Allen was born at Dorchester, Dorset, on 24 January 1902. His father was Postmaster there, and he was educated at Dorchester Grammar School from 1913 to 1919. He was also an active member of a High Anglican Church in the town and when he first came to Ampleforth he brought with him a biretta from his Anglican days. He had the dark complexion which is not uncommonly found on the south-west coasts of England, probably deriving from Phoenician ancestry, which gave him a slightly foreign air. On leaving school he entered the service of the London and South Western Railway as booking clerk at Moreton station between Dorchester and Wareham, and spent some time at Southampton. being received into the Church there on 21 November 1921. Two years later he became a Postulant at Ampleforth in September 1923 and received the Habit on 28 December from Abbot Smith, the last novice to be clothed by him. Following the customary course of studies he was solemnly professed on 1 January 1928. He matriculated at St Benet's Hall, Oxford, in October 1927 to read Classics. As his education had given him a good grounding in Latin but no Greek this entailed a hard grind which resulted in a fourth class in Honour Moderations, which was something of an achievement after only five terms, and then he changed to the Honour School of Theology in which he obtained second class Honours in 1931. He was then sent to Sant' Anselmo in Rome, where the somewhat Prussian and spartan regime of those days did not accord well with his temperament. He was always rather more mature and independent of mind than his contemporaries, and so was something of a 'stormy petrel' at Rome, but he did eventually achieve an S.T.L. degree. On his return to Ampleforth in 1935 he taught at Gilling and in the Upper School till in 1940 he was sent to St Anne's, Edge Hill, Liverpool where he spent the war years, a period which included the heavy air attacks which almost razed the parish to the ground. In January 1946 he was moved to Leyland and took over as parish priest in 1947. Here he became involved, along with another convert colleague, in a long correspondence in the local paper with the local vicar, a strong Evangelical. In those days ecumenism had not yet shown its face, but the controversy boosted the sales of the paper, to the delight of the editor! In 1952 he was transferred to St Mary's Cardiff, first as curate and then in 1956 as parish priest, a post which he held until his retirement in 1970. He rebuilt the presbytery there and was Mayor's Chaplain to Lincoln Haklinan during his Mayoralty. Indifferent health then required lighter work and he became chaplain to Stanbrook Abbey in July 1971, a position which he held until his death on 11 July 1981. Of his time at Stanbrook Dame Frideswide Sandeman writes:
Fr Dominic was an excellent host to guests and could converse on every level. His special love for children was evident when there were married couples looking after the Presbytery. Children had the power of rejuvenating him right up to the end of his life. As his strength diminished he dreaded being uprooted from Stanbrook and his wish to die there was happily granted him. A great loss to Stanbrook - yes - but most of all one misses the twinkle in his eye.
To sum up, he was certainly regarded by those of us who were his contemporaries as one of the abler and most hard working members of the Community, and we can thank Providence for directing his steps into joining us. He was buried at Cardiff. May he rest in peace.
DOM FREDERICK DOMINIC ALLEN 11 Jul 1981
1902 24 Jan born Dorchester
1913-19 edc Dorchester Grammar School
1921 21 Nov Received in the Church at Southampton
Postulant at Ampleforth
1923 28 Dec Habit at Ampleforth Abbot Smith
1925 1 Jan Simple Vows Abbot Matthews
1928 1 Jan Solemn Vows " "
1928 10 Apr Tonsure & Minor Orders Abbot Matthews
1928 11 Apr Minor Orders " "
1928 29 Jul Subdeacon Bishop Shine
1932 3 Jul Deacon at St. Ignazio Rome Cardinal Marchetti
1933 23 Jul Priest at Ampleforth Bishop Shine
1927-31 Oxford St.Benet's Hall Classics Mods/Theology Finals
1931-35 Rome St.Anselmo Theology
1937 Jan STL (Rome)
1935 Sept Gilling Castle Staff
1936 Sept Ampleforth
1939 May Liverpool St.Anne's - Assistant
1946 Jan Leyland - Assistant
1947 Leyland - PP
1952 Aug Cardiff - Assistant
1956 Sept Cardiff - PP
1970 Jul Chaplain to Troy House Monmouth
1971 Feb Chaplain to Stanbrook
1981 11 Jul died at Stanbrook
1981 16 Jul Buried at Cardiff