William Arthur (Bert) Allen
William Allen was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England on May 22, 1902. He immigrated to Canada in 1924, sailing from Liverpool with 20 pounds sterling in his pocket. To be near a maternal branch of his family, Bert (as he was called) worked on a soldiers' settlement farm near Brandon, Manitoba. This is where he met his future wife, Kathleen Kerr. After hearing much about the Red Lake gold rush, Bert ventured north with a few friends in 1927. He worked at the Howey Mine and assisted in the pouring of the first gold brick in 1930. The subsequent closure of the mine in 1941 forced his family's reluctant move from the area.