T. W. (Thomas William) Allies

Thomas William Allies was born on February 12, 1813, at Midsomer Norton in Somerset. He studied at Eton and Wadham College, Oxford, became a fellow of Wadham in 1833, and was ordained in the Church of England. In 1840 he was appointed examining chaplain to Bishop Blomfield of London and was given the rectory of Launton in Oxfordshire.

In the years of the Oxford Movement, he came to sympathize with Tractarian ideas and in 1850 left the Anglican Church to become a Roman Catholic. That decision changed the course of his career. Rather than following the academic or clerical path that had once seemed open to him, he devoted much of his working life to Catholic causes, including long service as secretary to the Catholic Poor School Committee.

Allies is chiefly remembered as a historical writer on religious subjects. His books explored the development of Christian doctrine, the authority of the papacy, and the place of the Church in history. He died on June 17, 1903. No suitable verified portrait image was found from the available Wikipedia page images, so a profile image is not included here.