He was born on November 28th, 1864 in Leicester, England. At the age of 15, Allen's father moved to America where, shortly after moving, his fathered died. Some reports say that his father was killed, other reports claim that his father fell ill. After his father's death, Allen went to work to help support his family. He was greatly influenced by "The Light of Asia" by Sir Edwin Arnold and began putting his own thoughts on paper after reading it. He later moved to Broad Park Avenue, Ilfracombe, England.
Allen married his wife, Lily Louisa Oram on May 22nd, 1895. He was 29, she was 25. Lily was born on December 30th, 1867. She was also a writer and later took over publishing Allen's works. They had one daughter, Nora Lily, born on September 10th in 1896. They were both devoted vegetarians.
In 1902, Allen founded a magazine called The Light of Reason. This was later changed to The Epoch. The magazine included articles from Allen himself and other inspiration writings from similar authors of the time. Allen also had groups in various towns that would meet and discuss topics that he often wrote about. Writings from members of the "Light or Reason Readers" groups often appeared in the magazone. The magazine was also used to communicate the goings on between the widespread groups. At the end of each edition of the magazine was a short piece about the meetings of each group.
Some of Allen's favorite writings, and those he quoted often, include the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Emerson, the Bible, Buddha, Whitman, Trine, and Lao-Tzu.
James Allen died on January 24th, 1912 survived by his wife and daughter. [Last Will & Testament] [Death Certificate] [Obituaries]
For a great article on Allen's life, see this article written by Murdo S. Carruthers published in The Herald of the Star in March, 1916.
For an article detailing Allen's ideas and thoughts, see this article from the Occult Review.
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| James Allen | Lily Allen, wife of James Allen | Nora Allen, daughter of James Allen | Lily and Nora Allen in the Garden |
James Allen in his own words:
“And I dreamed of writing books which would help men and women, whether rich or poor, learned or unlearned, worldly or unworldly to find within themselves the source of all success, all happiness, accomplishment, all truth. And the dream remained with me, and at last became substantial; and now I send forth these books into the world on a mission of healing and blessedness, knowing that they cannot fail to reach the homes and hearts of those who are waiting and ready to receive them.”
~James Allen
