IQI 
WILLIAM BERIAH ALLEN. 
(1875—1922.) 
By Carleton Rea. 
WILLIAM BERIAH ALLEN was born at Benthall, Shropshire, in 
1875. He was the only son of William Allen and Julia Caroline 
(née Lopez) and was educated at Ellesmere College, subsequently 
proceeding to Hertford College, Oxford. Unfortunately his 
father required his assistance in business and his career at the 
University was determined before he had completed the full 
number of terms, but doubtless if he had he would have graduated 
with high honours. His father was a potter by profession and 
after his death the son carried on the Benthall Pottery works and 
also developed a very prosperous foreign china and glass trade. 
Brought up in the beautiful country surrounding his home 
Allen in early life took a great interest in natural history and 
soon acquired a fair knowledge of the plants and birds of the 
district. He was afterwards attracted by the fungi, and it was 
as a student of these that I first made his acquaintance at the 
Hereford foray of the British Mycological Society in 1g02. He 
had been advised by the well-known Shropshire mycologist, 
William Phillips, to attend this meeting but it is a somewhat 
curious fact that Phillips really tried to dissuade him from 
mycology. From this time onwards it was my privilege to rank 
him as one of my best and dearest of friends, and together we 
enjoyed many forays in search of our beloved fungi. Allen was 
more especially interested in the Basidiomycetae, Discomycetae 
and Mycetozoa and in all of these groups he made some very 
interesting discoveries and additions to the British Flora. He 
was a keen collector, quick to detect minute differences and well 
acquainted with the works of Fries, Quélet and Lister. Monsieur 
René Maire named Omphalia Allenii in his honour at the Baslow 
foray in 1909, and Miss A. Lorrain Smith dedicated Cudoniella 
Allenii to him from specimens gathered in Shropshire in the 
spring of 1907. In 1909 he described in our 7 vansactions, vol. II, 
p. 92, the beautiful little violet Clavaria aptly named by him 
Clavaria conchyliata but which had been previously recorded by 
Saccardo under the uncouth name of Clavaria Bizzozeriana. He 
also found in my company the first British specimens of Glischro- 
derma cinctum (Fuck.) Rea in Wyre Forest in 1909, of Inocybe 
squarrosa Rea near Worcester in 1915, of Lycoperdon velatum 
Vitt. at Aldenham, Shropshire in 1902, and of many others too 
