Introduction

Biography

James was the son of Os­wald All­en, an an­ces­tor of Os­wald Al­len.

He was ed­u­cat­ed with a view to tak­ing Ho­ly Or­ders, first with two dif­fer­ent cler­gy­men at dif­fe­rent times, and then for one year at St. John’s Coll­ege, Cam­bridge.

Leaving Cam­bridge in 1752, he be­came a fol­low­er of Ben­ja­min Ing­ham, found­er of the Ing­ham­ite sect.

He sub­se­quent­ly joined the San­de­man­i­ans, and fi­nal­ly built a cha­pel on his es­tate at Gayle, min­is­ter­ing there the rest of his life.

He ed­ited and was the prin­ci­pal con­trib­ut­or to the 1757 Ken­dal Hymn Book and the Ap­pen­dix to the se­cond ed­it­ion in 1761.

Publications

• Chris­tian Songs