Sir George Wigram Allen
The eldest of George Allen's children, Sir George Wigram Allen, was articled to his father in 1841 and admitted as a solicitor in 1846. When Wigram joined the firm, it became known as Allen & Son, and he assumed management of the practice when George retired in 1855.
Wigram built on the foundations laid by his father in business, community affairs and politics. He inherited George's dedication to education and was appointed commissioner of national education from 1853 to 1867. In 1873 he assumed his father's seat on the Council of Education. Wigram was a trustee of Sydney Grammar School, and in 1878 replaced his father on the University of Sydney Senate, where he served until his death in 1885.
Wigram built on the foundations laid by his father in business, community affairs and politics.
Like George, Wigram was a director of many companies across a range of industries, including mining, transport and insurance. Notably, he was a director of the Bank of New South Wales and the Australian Gas Light Company. In 1851 he was appointed a notary public – the same year he married Marion Boyce, the eldest daughter of Reverend William Boyce. Wigram and Marion had ten children, four girls and six boys, and all six sons followed Wigram into the law. Three would go on to become partners in the family firm.
Wigram had political aspirations. In 1859 he became the first mayor of Glebe, an office he held for eighteen years. In 1860 he was elected a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, and in 1875 he became speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, holding this position until 1883. In 1877 Wigram was knighted for his services as speaker, and in 1884 made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. In 1880 Sir George Wigram Allen and Lady Allen helped found the Sydney Hospital for Sick Children (now The Children's Hospital at Westmead).
Sir Wigram was the head of the firm until he died in 1885, at which time responsibility for it passed to his sons, three of whom became partners in the firm. Upon his death, the Sydney Morning Herald encapsulated Wigram's character and reputation in simple and eloquent terms – 'Few men in the colony have been better known than Sir Wigram Allen, and none has been more generally esteemed.'