June 24, 1734, Gayle, Wensleydale, Yorkshire, England.
October 31, 1804, Gayle, Yorkshire, England.
Son of Oswald Allen, an ancestor of Oswald Allen, James 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 himself to the Sandemanians, and finally built a chapel on his estate at Gayle, ministering there the rest of his life.
He published a small volume, Christian Songs, with 17 hymns, and was the editor and principal contributor to the 1757 Kendal Hymn Book and the Appendix to the second edition in 1761.