William Allen (English Quaker)

William Allen (1770 to 1843) was an English Quaker, scientist and philanthropist who opposed slavery and worked for social and penal reform in early nineteenth century England. He turned from his father's silk business to pharmacy, taking over the Plough Court chemical business in London in 1795, and lectured on chemistry at Guy's Hospital. He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1802, and on the advice of Humphry Davy and John Dalton he also lectured at the Royal Institution. His original research on carbon helped win him election to the Royal Society in 1807. His firm grew into Allen and Hanburys, later part of GSK. He co-founded the Askesian Society and the Pharmaceutical Society, and was its first president.