Editing Ralph Allen (section)

==Early life==

Much is unknown or obscure regarding Allen's early life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' gives his father as Philip Allen, reputed to be an innkeeper.<ref name="ondb" /> As a teenager, Allen worked at the Post Office at [[St Columb Major|St Columb]], run by his grandmother. He moved in 1710 to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], where he became a post office clerk, and at the age of 19, in 1712, became the [[Postmaster]] of Bath.<ref>Staff, Frank (1966). ''The Penny Post, 1680–1918'', p. 57. London: Lutterworth Press</ref> In 1742 he was elected [[Mayor of Bath]].<ref name="postmus">{{cite web |url=http://www.bathpostalmuseum.co.uk/ralph-allen.html |title=Ralph Allen Biography |publisher=Bath Postal Museum |access-date=12 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004234025/http://www.bathpostalmuseum.co.uk/ralph-allen.html |archive-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>