The Allens of ‘Karamia’

By Tamara Hynd, curator of Shellharbour City Museum 

Members of the Allen family were familiar faces around Shellharbour for generations. 

John Walter (known as Walter) was the first of these Allens to arrive in Australia. He came in 1855 aboard the ‘Gilmore’ with his wife Priscilla and two sons, Richard Aldridge and Walter John. A daughter, Priscilla, had died in Kent two years prior, aged just three. Three years after their arrival, in 1858, Walter lost his wife, Priscilla. 

Shortly after her death, Walter moved the family to Shellharbour. 

In 1861, he married Charlotte, born to another now famous local family, the Dunsters. The couple established a general store in Addison Street in 1868, and the family lived in the attached residence they named, ‘Karamia’, which means ‘my beloved’, or ‘my dear’.

This family home became famous to locals in later years, not because of the Allens, but as the home of Shellharbour’s most famous Chinese restaurant, Tang’s. 

Walter and Charlotte had several children: Joseph Dunster, Edward, Charlotte, George, and Adelaide Jane. Charlotte’s son, James Lambert Tritton, born 1851, was also part of the family. James was tragically killed when knocked down by a train in 1893. He was 42 years old. 

Allen’s Post Office and Store sold ironmongery and haberdashery. A postal service was conducted from the front room of ‘Karamia’. Clothing and other goods were ordered by catalogue through Allen’s Store, arriving by ship, and later rail. Once a week, the post was delivered to Albion Park. 

Walter conducted the store until his death from typhoid fever in 1876. Charlotte carried on as storekeeper and postmistress until her own death in 1882. Their son, Joseph Dunster Allen, with the help of his brother Edward, continued the business.

Shellharbour was a popular tourist spot in the early 20th century, and the Allens catered to the trade, selling fishing tackle, bathing and boating outfits. The family also leased cottages they owned to holiday makers, including ’Windradene’, next door to ‘Karamia’ in Addison Street, and now known as the ‘White House’.

The Allen men wore several hats for generations, not only working as storekeepers but serving the village’s need for alderman, undertakers, auditors, and bandmembers. The Allen women devoted much time to the war effort and were heavily involved with St Paul’s Church of England activities.

Joseph Dunster Allen married Annie ‘Rachel’ Wickham in 1892, and they had four children: Keith Wickham, Kathleen Lottie, Bruce Dunster, and Gwendoline Morris. All helped in the store.

Keith Wickham Allen joined the AIF in 1915. He served in France and was hospitalised with shellshock three times. On one occasion, a blast left him unconscious for several days. After Armistice, he remained overseas and was given several posts. In 1919, he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant and allotted to the General Infantry, travelling to France. He was later sent to physical training school, where he helped troops gain the required fitness to return home to Australia. In 1940, Keith enlisted for service in World War Two. He wanted to serve overseas, but was put in charge of getting the troops fit before embarkation, and training the instructors who would continue the job on the ships. 

In 1910, when she was 13, Keith’s sister Kathleen (Ka) wrote a letter to Dame Durden’s Post Office, a weekly newspaper column for young readers, in the Australian Town and Country Journal. She wrote about spending lots of time enjoying sea bathing at Shellharbour, learning music, and watching the fisherman netting great hauls of fish which they sent to Sydney. 

Ka was engaged to a young man prior to his enlisting in World War One. He served overseas, and never returned home. Ka never married. The family said she never really got over her grief. 

William Wickham, cousin to the Allens, assisted with the running of the family store from the late 1920s. 

After Joseph and Rachel’s deaths in the 1940s, Ka carried on with postal duties in the village. 

‘Karamia’ (‘My Beloved’), built circa 1865, was demolished last year. The old store remains for now. 

In 2016, two lanes at the rear of the former Allen Bros Post Office and Store, Allen Lane and Wickham Lane, were named in the family’s honour.  

To find about more about the history of Shellharbour City, visit Shellharbour City Museum’s online platform, Discover Shellharbour.