Stephen Allen

Sir Stephen Shepherd Allen (2 August 1882 – 4 November 1964) was a New Zealand lawyer, farmer, colonial administrator, local-body politician, and mayor of Morrinsville.

Biography Allen was the son of William Shepherd Allen, an MP in both the United Kingdom and New Zealand. His mother was Elizabeth Penelope Candlish, daughter of John Candlish.

He served in World War I, being appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1919 King's Birthday Honours, for his bravery during the battle of Passchendaele. His rule of Samoa was marked by the attempted suppression of the Mau movement, a nationalist movement.

Allen served in the Second World War as a staff captain of the British Army and as a military secretary to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The 2nd Battalion of the Auckland Regiment captured La Signy Farm (in Serre, France) under his command. Allen's property in Morrinsville was named La Signy Farm.

On 4 November 1964, Allen had a heart attack while driving near Maramarua, and both he and his housekeeper, Elma Jessie Brunton, died in the resulting crash.