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Name: ALLEN, Victor de Vere MBE
Nee: bro of Percy de Vere Allen
Birth Date: 20 Nov 1899 Forbes, NSW, Australia
Death Date: 29 Mar 1980 Mombasa
First Date: 1928
Last Date: 1980
Profession: Asst. Superintendent of Prisons, Prisons Dept., Kenya in 1939, appointed 1937. Originally Chief Officer 1928. Prisons Dept. 1928-55 (Deputy Commissioner). Worked for physically disabled 1955. Superintendent of Prisons in 1953
Area: Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa
Married: In Victoria, Australia 1931 Helen Elizabeth McMillan b. 1900 Trafalgar, Vic., Australia, d. 1982
Children: Margaret (Nicholson) (1932), James de Vere (1936 Nairobi-1990 Mombasa)
Book Reference: Staff 39, EAWL, Staff 53, Mischief, Red 31, Harmony, Masonic
War Service: 1915-18 with Australian Forces in Europe
School: In Australia
General Information:
Gazette 14 Nov 1980 - probate
Source:- David Nicholson. Letter from David Nicholson - "..... Vic, as a retired Deputy Commissioner of Prisons was always discreet. Many prominent Kenyans had been his 'guests', and Lady Delamere was alive with powerful friends both in Kenya and in UK. For a long time Vic would only say that the jury's verdict of 'not guilty of the murder of Lord Erroll' was correct, but that Broughton knew who had done it. Later, on one of my visits to Mombasa before Vic's death, he said a little more. Vic was an experienced judge of character, and had liked Broughton, who was an old fashioned aristocrat, a snob, with a belief that a gentleman's duty to his wife included protecting her from public trial for murder. While I do not know what Broughton told Vic, it appears to have been enough for Vic to be definite about the events. Diana shot Erroll, who was about to walk out on her, leaving her without either husband or lover. A small pistol shot behind the ear is a woman's way of killing (a man shoots face to face). Diana then fetched Broughton, and they dumped the car and the body. Broughton subsequently disposed of incriminating evidence, and drew attention to himself so that he rather than Diana would be charged with the murder. This ensured that Diana would not appear in court for cross-examination. ......... A conspiracy theory may, of course, have been held by other Europeans at the time, but I am certain that Vic himself was too discreet to talk about it. It's weakness is that it requires other witnesses to have been wrong in their evidence, but Vic commented 'that lot looked after their own'. Immediately after the trial, June Carberry gave Vic a gold coloured Bougainvillea for his garden."
Mischief - Broughton's jailer, the Chief Warder, was Victor de Vere Allen. He was an intelligent, considerate man who had been retired for 13 years when I met him in Nairobi in 1969. He had 2 sisters in Australia.
Masonic - District Grand Pursuivant - 1950 Asst. Commissioner of Prisons - 7 Nov 1954 to Jan 1956
Gazette 14 Nov 1980 probate
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