William Allen (admiral)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other persons named William Allen, see William Allen (disambiguation).

Rear-Admiral William Allen (November, 1792 – 23 January 1864) was an English naval officer and explorer.

Allen was involved in fighting the African slave trade, and took part in three expeditions to West Africa. In 1832 he went up the River Niger with Richard Lemon Lander and Macgregor Laird. He also tried to find an alternative route to India by proposing to connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea and then the Red Sea. This plan did not take into consideration that the Dead Sea is below sea level, though. The more practical route to India was the Suez Canal.

Allen collected the type specimen of Allen's Gallinule (a small waterbird) near the River Niger.