Mrs Allen: The woman who kissed the hand of the Duke of Wellington as he died
‘I am indeed … quite overwhelmed with grief but oh! how thankful I am that he was here and that I saw him and kissed his dear hands just before the last sigh. He was so well on Monday night and so cheerful and conversant that no one could have the most distant idea that all was to be so quickly over…’[fn1]
Mrs Allen was the housekeeper to the Duke of Wellington and three other Lord Wardens at Walmer Castle for over 30 years.[fn2],[fn3],[fn4],[fn5] Since the early 18th century, the castle has been the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The Duke of Wellington became Lord Warden in 1829. During those early years, he served concurrently as Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, and several other significant political roles.
The Duke was known to keep a loyal and long-serving group of staff and servants around him, such as James Kendall, his valet; William Heath, head coachman; Christopher Collins, his butler, and Townsend, his warder and steward who had been a sergeant in the Grenadier Guards serving with the Duke at Waterloo.[fn6],[fn7]
The Duke took great care of his staff; he paid them well. At Apsley House, the housekeeper, Mrs Cross, who served the Duke for 35 years, is recorded as receiving treatment with six leeches for which the Duke of Wellington is charged 4 shillings and sixpence.[fn8]
The Duke’s staff at Walmer Castle are thought to have been paid for at his own expense,[fn9] and accounts vary regarding when Mrs Allen took over from the former housekeeper, Matilda Norman.[fn10] An article in the Dover Historian in 2015 stated that Mrs Norman had retired and was replaced by Mrs Allen, which had taken place when the Duke took up his post of Lord Warden in 1829.[fn11] Mrs Allen was the maid to the Duke’s mother, Anne Wellesley, Countess of Mornington, who died on June 23rd, 1831—if Mrs Allen remained with the countess until her death, it would date Mrs Allen coming to Walmer during or after 1831.
[fg]png|Fig 1: Walmer Castle © Copyright Historic England Archive Photo Library ref: k980415|Image[/fg]
[fn]1|Wellington by Rory Muir Commentary Explorer Results for Volume 2. Private letter from Mrs Allen to Lady Salisbury, 16 September 1852 (Wellington Private Correspondence p 222). Wellington: The Path to Victory 1769-1814; Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace 1814–1852 » Chapter 30: In the Midst of Life (lifeofwellington. co.uk)[/fn]
[fn]2|Mrs Norman was recorded as housekeeper in 1834. Letter written by the Duke quoted in: Walmer Castle and its Lord Warden by the Marquess of Curzon (1927) page 189. Macmillan and Co Ltd. London.[/fn]
[fn]3|After the Duke’s death Mrs Allen laments about the happy circumstances of her 20 years at Walmer Castle. There is a two / three-year discrepancy (circa 1835) in when Mrs Allen took over from Mrs Norman. It is possible she was a maid first. https://lifeofwellington.co.uk/Commentary Explorer Results Commentary for Volume 2, Chapter 30: Mrs Allen the housekeeper[/fn]
[fn]4|Ancestry.com 1861 census. Mrs Allen and Elizabeth (her daughter) residing at Walmer castle.[/fn]
[fn]5|Internet Archive: The History of Walmer and Walmer Castle (1894) page 169 By Charles Robert Stebbing Elvin [/fn]
[fn]6|Wellington at Walmer page 25 by Gregory Hollyoake (1996) ISBN 072120970X [/fn]
[fn]7|Domestic Life at Apsley House - Wellington Collection[/fn]
[fn]8|As 5 above[/fn]
[fn]9|Duke of Wellington & Dover | The Dover Historian[/fn]
[fn]10|Mrs Norman was recorded as housekeeper in 1835. Letter written by the Duke quoted in: Walmer Castle and its Lord Warden by the Marquess of Curzon (1927) page 189. Macmillan and Co Ltd. London.[/fn]
[fn]11|Duke of Wellington & Dover | The Dover Historian[/fn]
To the best of this author’s knowledge, no image of Mrs Allen exists; the only painting or image of any of the Duke’s staff or servants is that of John Mears, his groom, as depicted above.[fn12]
Who was Mrs Allen, the woman who for many years served as housekeeper to the Lord Wardens and their numerous guests, including government ministers, dignitaries, local gentry, royalty, and lots of children?
Mary Ann Allen was born about 1806 in Marylebone, London. The 1851 population census for Walmer Castle records her age as 45 and her occupation as a resident housekeeper.[fn13] Mrs Allen had been widowed in 1849.[fn14] Her husband Thomas died at Walmer Castle on April 7th, 1849, at the age of 71. The population census for 1841 records a daughter, Elizabeth, residing at a school in Sandwich at the age of 10. By 1861, mother and daughter appeared on the census as living at Walmer Castle.
Mrs Allen is known today for playing a pivotal role in collating items of furniture, paintings, and other artefacts at Walmer Castle that were later included in the Heirlooms Act of 1891. This act ensured that historically important furniture and other artefacts, including over fifty paintings and forty images of previous Lord Wardens, remained in situ at Walmer Castle for perpetuity.[fn15] Plans for this important act of parliament commenced during the tenure as Lord Warden of Lord Granville (1866-1891). Castilla Levenson Gower (Countess Granville) recalled that Mrs Allen had been invaluable in helping to collate an inventory of items relating to the tenures of the Duke and William Pitt. These items later became part of the Walmer Heirlooms or Act of Indenture of Bill in 1891.
Lord Curzon, in his book on Walmer Castle and its Lord Wardens,[fn16] refers to Mrs Allen several times. He refers to the Duke’s staff as “old retainers, …service with him was an inheritance and of value.”[fn17]
[fg]png|Fig 2: Photo Historic England archive|Image[/fg]
Mrs Allen received gifts from showing people around the castle when the Duke was not in residence. Lord Curzon refers twice to Mrs Allen’s financial status; later, he states, “Mrs Allen …… continued to amass a modest fortune from gratitudes.”[fn18]
In 1851, the Duke was expecting Lady de la Warr (daughter of the 3rd Duke of Dorset) to stay, and the Duke wrote a note to Lord and Lady Salisbury in respect of her differing expectations of servants, her comfort, and his concern:
“The truth is that English servants are so cross-grained that they will not allow families to live together as they do in other countries. Here we are obliged in general to receive them as visitors….”[fn19]
Later in the same year, The Duke refers to Mrs Allen’s cooking in relation to a potential visit from Queen Victoria. The Duke compliments Mrs Allen, noting the Queen would not starve on her cuisine.[fn20]
Mrs Allen was distraught when the Duke of Wellington died on September 14th, 1852. It is apparent that along with herself, family members, other devoted servants and his doctors were all with him when he died.[fn21],[fn22],[fn23]
The wood engraving by J.L. Williams after J. Gilbert is the artist’s chosen assembly of persons for this historical picture depicting the last moments of the Duke of Wellington’s life. The artist tells us that he draws those present as “Lord and Lady Wellesley, Dr M Arthur, Mr Hulme (the apothecary) and his son, Mr Kendal, his valet and the butler and that the accuracy of the portraits having been greatly assisted by the Daguerreotype.”
[fg]png|Fig 3: The death of the Duke of Wellington by J.L. Williams after J. Gilbert (1852)|Image[/fg]
[fn]18|Pages 172 and 276[/fn]
[fn]19|Page 243[/fn]
[fn]20|Page 245[/fn]
[fn]21|Internet Archive: Wellington a Pillar of State (1972) pages 398-400. By Elizaeth Longford. ISBN 9780586041550[/fn]
[fn]22|Internet Archive: A sketch of the Life of Georgiana, Lady de Ros: WJ. R. Swinton. Georgiana De Ros: Page 47.[/fn]
[fn]23|Wellington. Waterloo and the fortunes of peace (2015) Page 568. By Rory Muir. ISBN 978-0-300-23282-0[/fn]
Mrs Allen remained housekeeper throughout the seven-year tenure of Marquis Dalhousie, who had been Captain at Deal Castle and was a relative of the Duke’s by marriage.
After the Duke’s death, Mrs Allen immediately writes to Lady Salisbury, a close friend of the Duke’s.
‘I am indeed … quite overwhelmed with grief but oh! how thankful I am that he was here and that I saw him and kissed his dear hands just before the last sigh. He was so well on Monday night and so cheerful and conversant that no one could have the most distant idea that all was to be so quickly over…’[fn24]
The Duke’s body was kept on display in Walmer Castle on one of his campaign beds, where he laid in state until 10th November. Nine thousand people had visited him by the time his body was removed for burial in St Paul’s Cathedral: one of the very few commoners to be given a full state funeral.[fn25]
Mrs Allen writes to (someone close to Lady Salisbury) “with much grief” to a “friend” asking her to talk to Lady Salisbury. Mrs Allen also advises her friend (the person the letter is addressed to) that “Charles” (The 2nd Duke of Wellington) will be writing to the Salisbury family soon.[fn26]
A few days after the Duke’s death during his period of laying in state at Walmer Castle, Mrs Allen writes again to Lady Salisbury:
“My Lady… It will indeed by agony when we lose him altogether (i.e. the removal of the body). At present I know nothing, but it must come, and it will be a fearful struggle and my next trial after what will be the desolation of the happy home for 20 years, I have past here, looking forward from year to year to meet that kind lovely smile which shone with light and life upon my existence. I cannot express dear Lady what I feel for you who was so much comfort to him, and it will be some consolation to you hereafter to know and feel that you were so…”[fn27]
Mrs Allen remained housekeeper throughout the seven-year tenure of Marquis Dalhousie, who had been Captain at Deal Castle and was a relative of the Duke’s by marriage.
During this time, the Marquis Dalhousie never stayed at the castle. However, it was refurbished and loaned to the Duke’s family during this period. Mrs Allen is also recorded showing “shewing” people around the Duke’s rooms for a small fee.[fn28]
On the 1861 census, Mrs Allen and her daughter Elizabeth were residing at Walmer Castle as housekeeper and local governess, respectively.[fn29]
During Lord Palmerston’s five-year tenure (1861-1865) as Lord Warden, there was little change at Walmer Castle. The Lord Warden was only an occasional visitor. Mrs Allen and a small staff team were overseen by Captain J Watts RN, who was by this time Deputy Constable of Dover, having served as the last Captain of Walmer Castle until 1857. During the handover period, the new Lord Warden, Lord Granville, requested information about his new official residence’s everyday running and expenses.
A snapshot summary of expenses survives in the form of a letter written by a representative from the War Office to Lord Granville detailing expenses incurred during the period following the death of Lord Palmerston on October 18th 1865.[fn30] Mrs Allen, as a housekeeper, was paid an annual wage of £26 and claimed other expenses such as washing. Other expenses included wages for a housemaid, a man for duties in the castle, coal, candles, and a bricklayer, totalling £42.16s. 33/4 d on February 17th, 1866.
[fg]png|Fig 4: Photo by Jenny Wall January 2024|Image[/fg]
[fn]24|Wellington by Rory Muir Commentary Explorer Results for Volume 2. Private letter from Mrs Allen to Lady Salisbury, 16 September 1852 (Wellington Private Correspondence p 222). Wellington: The Path to Victory 1769-1814; Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace 1814–1852 » Chapter 30: In the Midst of Life (lifeofwellington.co.uk)[/fn]
[fn]25|Napier, W., F., P., “The Life of Arthur Duke of Wellington”: London: John Murray (Volume 2, Chapter 64) 475-487.[/fn]
[fn]26|https://www.kentarchives. reference: U269/C397/1. A letter written by Mrs Mary Allen from Walmer Castle on September 14th, 1852.[/fn]
[fn]27|Wellington by Rory Muir Commentary Explorer Results for Volume 2. Private letter from Mrs Allen to Lady Salisbury, 16 September 1852 (Wellington Private Correspondence p 222). Wellington: The Path to Victory 1769-1814; Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace 1814–1852 » Chapter 30: In the Midst of Life (lifeofwellington.co.uk)[/fn]
[fn]28|Walmer Castles Amazing Lord Wardens (Version 1) 2023 Page 157. ISBN 9798399407425 by Martin Hoskins[/fn]
[fn]29|Ancestry.com 1861 census. Mrs Allen and Elizabeth residing at Walmer castle.[/fn]
[fn]30|English Heritage archives Dover. Ref 81000216. Letter from the war office detailing expenses incurred during the period after Lord Palmerston death and the appointment of Lord Granville (dated 22nd March 1866)[/fn]