Mary Sophia Allen (1878–1964)

by Mrs Albert Broom, 1916 [centre, with members of the women police]

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Allen, Mary Sophia (1878–1964), police officer, was born on 12 March 1878 at 2 Marlborough Terrace, Newport Road, Roath, Glamorgan, the daughter of Thomas Isaac Allen (1841–1911), a superintendent of the Great Western Railway, and his wife, Margaret Sophia Carlyle (bap. 1847, d. 1933). Her elder sister, Margaret Annie Allen (1875–1943), who in 1901 married Wilfred Herbert Hampton, was an early member of the Women Police Volunteers. Mary Allen was educated at home and at Princess Helena College, Ealing. In her memoirs she describes herself as a delicate child who was often ill and was therefore forced to lead a rather cloistered childhood.

In 1909, inspired by Annie Kenney, Allen left home for London to join the campaign for women's suffrage. She served three prison terms for her suffragette activities, during which she went on hunger strikes and was forcibly fed. She was awarded a hunger strike medal from Mrs Pethick-Lawrence in August 1909. In her book Lady in Blue Mary Allen wrote that while in prison she 'first envisaged the idea of women police, to arrest women offenders, attend them at police stations, and escort them to prison and give them proper care' (Allen, Lady, 16).

Following a period of illness (as a result of being force-fed during her final prison term) Allen was forbidden by Mrs Pankhurst from participating in any further militant activities. Instead she moved to Edinburgh, where she acted as an organizer. Shortly afterwards, just after the outbreak of war, she joined the Women Police Volunteers as a constable. The Women Police Volunteers was an independent organization whose members were trained, uniformed, and prepared to work full time. It was founded by Margaret Damer Dawson, and funded by subscription and private donation. In November 1914 Mary Allen and a colleague began their service in Grantham, Lincolnshire, where the population had almost doubled since military troops had taken up residence. Their zeal in discouraging companionship between local women and soldiers at the Grantham camp, so as to prevent prostitution, led to a split in the Women Police Volunteers and the resignation of Nina Boyle, one of its founders. Allen replaced Boyle as sub-commandant in February 1915. In May 1915 she was transferred to Hull, where she and her colleagues maintained order through several Zeppelin raids. After a period of service in Hull she returned to London to assist in the training of policewomen for munitions factories all over the country. She was appointed OBE in February 1918 for her services during the war.

When Margaret Damer Dawson died in May 1920 Mary Allen succeeded her as commandant of the Women's Auxiliary Service, as her force was now called. Members of the Women's Auxiliary Service initiated women police forces abroad, notably in Ireland and Cologne, Germany. Her first book, The Pioneer Policewoman (1925), describes her work and adventures during this period. Subsequently Mary Allen travelled extensively on lecture tours and inspected the training methods and administration of women police forces in many countries, including Egypt, Brazil, and Finland. About this time the National Council of Women wrote letters of complaint to the Home Office, stating that Mary Allen was masquerading abroad as an official policewoman, whereas in fact she was a purely independent agent. The fact that she continued to wear her uniform—riding breeches, skirted coat, overcoat, flat cap, and military boots—together with her authoritative manner and considerable skill in self-advertisement, undoubtedly contributed to her success in this venture.

In 1927 she founded and edited the Policewoman's Review, which ran until 1937. It was here, in December 1933, that she advertised for recruits to her newly formed women's reserve, the object of which was to train women for service in any national emergency. Members were to be trained in first aid, fire drill, and lorry driving, among other things. The idea of a women's reserve generated a number of protests to the press, as well as complaints to the Home Office, which pointed out that many of the aims of the women's reserve were already covered by existing organizations such as the British Red Cross, the order of St John, and the Voluntary Aid Detachment.

On her first visit to Berlin, in 1934, Allen met Hitler and Goering. With Goering she discussed whether policewomen should wear uniform and was glad to report that his reply (strongly in the affirmative) exactly summed up her own views on the subject, which she considered to be one of the 'most controversial matters concerning policewomen all over the world' (Allen, Lady, 155). In the same year her second book, Woman at the Crossroads, was published, followed by Lady in Blue (1936). By the late 1930s her concern with the issues of prostitution, white slave traffic, and the illegal drug trade was well established and in April–May 1940 she contributed a series of articles on vice in Action, the organ of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). She had joined the BUF in December 1939. Her membership, as well as her involvement with other prominent members such as Sir Oswald Mosley, resulted in a suspension order under defence regulation 18B on 11 July 1940. This involved restrictions on her movement and communications, but she was not imprisoned. Although she repeatedly asked for the removal of these restrictions, the Home Office saw no grounds for granting her request.

Little is known of Allen from this time until her death, although it appears that she was received into the Roman Catholic church in 1953. She did not marry and had no children. In 1959 she became a patient at Birdhurst Nursing Home, 4 Birdhurst Road, South Croydon, where she remained until her death there from cerebral thrombosis and cerebral arteriosclerosis on 16 December 1964.