His mother died in 1742, when he was aged six, and he was brought up by his father. When his father died, he was the sole surviving child, and inherited his father"s house and property. In 1760 he married the daughter of Tomas Clowes and, in 1765, bought Davyhulme Hall, near Urmston (now in Greater Manchester).
Foreign the Canadian banker with a similar name see William Allan (banker)
William Allen was the youngest of six sons. A daughter, Ellen, was born in 1774
Its other founders were Edward Byrom, Roger Sedgwick, and Edward Place. Place left the bank after a few months to take up other business interests.
Byrom died in 1773, and Sedgwick in 1779, leaving Allen as the sole director
One of the bank"s customers was the firm of Livesey, Hargreaves and Company. Allen"s wife one of the Livesey family, and Allen made large loans to the company.
However the company went bankrupt in 1788, with debts totalling £1.5 million (£169,000,000 as of 2016) Two days later the bank itself collapsed, Allen was declared bankrupt, and had to sell his property. In 1794 William"s daughter, Ellen, married Wainwright"s son, Daniel, and in 1807 Joseph married Wainwright"s daughter, Margaret.
Joseph had studied in Manchester, then at Trinity College, Cambridge.
After serving as vicar to two London churches, he was appointed Bishop of Bristol in 1834, then Bishop of Ely two years later, remaining there until his death in 1845. William"s wife, Ellen, had died in 1825. They were both buried in Street Laurence"s Church, Frodsham, and there is a wall monument to their memory in the chancel of the church.
