Biography

Allies was one of the earliest writers on folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

. He was the second son of Mr. William Allies, and was born at Lulsley

Lulsley

Lulsley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of the county of Worcestershire, England, UK....

, Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

, 22 October 1787, where his family had resided for generations. In early youth he was deeply impressed by the lingering relics of Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 and Saxon days and by the pastoral life that characterised his native place. He served a clerkship in London, and practiced there for some years as a solicitor. Numerous papers of his were read to the Society of Antiquaries of London

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

, of which he was elected a fellow about 1840, and at the meetings of the Royal Archaeological Institute

Royal Archaeological Institute

The Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is a learned society, established in 1844, primarily devoted to the publication of the Archaeological Journal, a production of archaeological news that has been in print since 1844....

. He showed there much aptness for antiquarian discovery, and threw light upon vestiges of Roman occupation in his native county which Nash and other historians had regarded as unidentified.

Marrying Catherine, daughter of William Hartshorne, Esq., of Clipstone, Northamptonshire

Clipston, Northamptonshire

Clipston is a village and civil parish that is administered as part of the Daventry district of Northamptonshire in England. The town of Market Harborough is much nearer and so the village may be regarded as an economic satellite of that town rather than Daventry. At the time of the 2001 census,...

, by whom he had an only child, William Hartshorne (who succeeded him), he quitted London, and resided some years at Worcester, at Catherine Villa, in the Lower Wick, taking part in all reunions and movements connected with Worcestershire and its history.

He died 29 January 1856, at Tivoli House, Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

, which he had purchased a few years before, and was buried in Leckhampton

Leckhampton

Leckhampton is a district in south Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The area constitutes a civil parish and is part of the district of Cheltenham.-History:...

churchyard by the side of his wife, who had previously died on 28 May 1855 at the age of 74 years.