The Reverend Monty Yate Allen
One of the founder members of Doncaster Beekeepers’ Association
Monty Yate Allen was brought up at Moss Vicarage, (about seven miles north of Doncaster) where his father was the Vicar. On the death of his father, he became Vicar of the parish in 1908. His father was a keen botanist, and Monty learned a great deal from him on the subject, and inherited his skill for drawing plants, and identifying them. His father was also a keen bee-keeper. Bees were to be a lasting source of interest to Monty and combined with the interest in plants, in such a keen mind, was to stimulate in the following years much study and research.
The records show that he passed his preliminary and Intermediate Examinations in1918, and the Senior Exam. in 1919, and it was around1918 that he joined the Yorkshire BKA, which was at a very low ebb at the time, the Doncaster Association was formed the following year.
For a number of years Monty was the sole organiser for the whole of Yorkshire, and he travelled extensively at his own expense, throughout the county, during the1920’s demonstrating and lecturing, and forming new Associations. It was largely as a result of Monty’s efforts that the Yorkshire Beekeeping Association was (re) established on a firm basis with much improved finances. He regularly judged Honey and Wax at the Royal Show at Crystal Palace, and also at the Yorkshire Show, and as far as Scotland.
Another parson, the Rev. G.H.Hewison, Vicar of Marr, near Doncaster from 1917-1945, was a friend and co-worker with Monty Yate Allen. Hewison was not only a keen beekeeper, but also an expert in microscopy, and an excellent photographer. He produced a collection of photographic slides on bee anatomy, among other aspects of bee-studies, and these formed the basis of many lantern slide lectures, given by Monty, who was considered a good lecturer and expert bee handler at summer demonstrations.
In the early twenties Monty bought his own microscope, and started making a serious study of pollen – and here his skill at drawing came to the fore. He began writing articles for various bee journals. He contributed to the Bee Kingdom, Bee World, and the British Bee Journal, also the Egyptian Beekeeping Journal, run by Dr Abushady in Alexandria. The drawings of flowers and pollen of 150 plants, with detailed anatomical descriptions, are of a very high standard for a man who was only an amateur. The articles on bee plants which were published in the Egyptian Bee Journal, were reprinted by Dr Abushady, and published as ‘European Bee Plants and their Pollen’ in Alexandria in 1937.
Monty’s own independence of thought showed itself in his researches and studies of pollen. He refused to follow what other people had written or drawn: “in every case I have endeavoured to draw what my own microscope has shown me, and to give my own opinion as to the formation of each pollen grain” (introduction to European Bee Plants.) He was not afraid to disagree with some of the eminent experts on the subject, notably Professor E. Zander in Germany with whom he frequently corresponded, and with whom he later worked in close association. It has been said that he probably did more research than did Zander himself.
Without knowing it, Monty became an international authority on pollen and its identification. He could by analysis of pollen in honey, say where the honey had come from. And when he came across honey labelled as ‘English’ which on analysis, showed the presence of Gum Tree pollen, he was able to say with confidence that the sample had been imported from either Australia or New Zealand. He was not popular in some quarters for this reason. But he was quite undeterred by unpopularity.
During the 1930’s, when economic depression hit Britain, the recovery of Germany from the disaster of the Great War, attracted a great deal of attention. Monty, among others, felt that the victors of 1918 were allowing their attitude to Hitler to be coloured too much by sour grapes. This was especially true about the former German colonies which had been confiscated by the Allies, who administered them under a League of Nations mandate. One of the burning questions of the time was whether Germany should be given her colonies back. Monty believed the answer was ‘Yes’ and he wrote a letter to the Daily Mail in 1935 saying so. The consequence of this letter was to cast a shadow over the rest of his life and health.
His letter to the Daily Mail was published, and the German government were so pleased with it, that they offered him a completely free holiday in Germany. He was told he could go where he liked, meet whom he wanted, and all expenses would be paid! As he had never been abroad, he gratefully accepted.
In 1938 there was an Entomological Congress in Berlin, and Monty attended, representing the Apis Club. He was able to sell quite a number of copies of his recently published book European Bee Plants, which helped to pay some of his expenses. From these two visits to Germany, Monty gained the impression that there had been an economic miracle in Germany. Others had been similarly impressed. In fact, it was no miracle, merely cunning sleight of hand. But to Monty, and others like him, the success of National Socialism was so dazzling, that the faults were not visible. Wiser people realised that it was easy to be deceived, and that there were glaring faults in Germany – the barbaric treatment of the Jews to mention only one.
But Monty was not afraid of saying unpopular things. He stuck to his guns, and tried to put in a good word for the Germans. He believed in Peace and Friendship between nations. The British Government, after a year of war with Germany, decided that certain people, who spoke out publicly in favour of the Germans, were suspect. In 1940 Monty was taken into protective custody on the Isle of Man. He was allowed to return home to Doncaster in 1943.
He had prepared manuscripts for a second book to be entitled ‘Honey from different Countries’ intended as a sequel to his first book. The drawings, and analyses of honey from so many countries, with the manuscript, were being prepared for publication in Egypt by Dr Abushady. When the war started, all pro-British Egyptians fled from Egypt. Monty tried several times to re-establish contact with Dr Abushady, but without success.
Although he continued with his beekeeping when he returned (his hives had been looked after by friends) he retired from active membership of the Beekeepers’ Association for a year or two. The Minute Book shows he was appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Doncaster Association in 1947, and Chairman two years later. But his health was failing. In 1951 he retired and moved with his family down to Malvern. He died in December 1957.
Beekeepers in Yorkshire, and farther afield, have much to be grateful for in the energetic work of Monty Yate Allen. He reached heights of scholarship in his studies of pollen, which, in his time, very few could match. In more recent times the research he started has been further extended by more sophisticated equipment, but the pioneer work he did was, and is fundamentally sound. Perhaps he was naïve in his understanding of the Germans, but at least he had the courage of his convictions. Monty Yate Allen helped to transform beekeeping from a rural craft to a precise scientific study. His achievements have been a benefit and advantage to us all.
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