User:Jesmond Dean/sandbox/William John Allen

William John Allen was born in Wingate Durham. His Cornish ancestors were part of the influx of Cornish miners and agricultural workers who migrated north during the 19th century. He himself was a Colliery Deputy and subsequently became Secretary of the Miners Union working from an office in Jesmond. William was a governor at the RVI and served 34 continuous years as councillor for Newburn District Council. During the Depression he organised a soup kitchen for poor mining families and involved himself in local education and the social housing programme. A plaque bearing his name and commemorating the first council housing in the district, is sited on a house at the corner of Windsor Crescent, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne.