Hannah Allen

This article is about the nonconformist writer. For the bookseller, see Hannah Allen (bookseller).

Hannah Allen (née, Archer; after first marriage, Allen, after second marriage, Hatt; c.1638 – ?), was a 17th-century British nonconformist writer,^[1] who suffered from religious insanity.

Hannah Allen
Born	Hannah Archer c. 1638 Snelston, Derbyshire, England
Occupation	writer
Genre	Nonconformism
Notable works	Satan, his methods and malice baffled : a narrative of God's gracious dealings with Mrs. Hannah Allen, (afterwards married to Mr. Hatt) reciting the great advantages the devil made of her deep melancholy, and the triumphant victories, rich and sovereign graces, God gave her over all his stratagems and devices
Spouse	Hannibal Allen ​ ​ (m. 1655; died 1663)​ Charles Hatt ​ ​ (m. 1668, died)​

Biography

Hannah Archer, the daughter of John Archer of Snelston, Derbyshire, was born about 1638. At the age of two, her father died. Her maternal grandfather was William Hart of Uttoxeter Woodland, Staffordshire. While living with a paternal aunt,^[2] Allen attended school in London when she was 12, after which she returned to her widowed mother, and it was then that her depression was first recorded.^[3]

St Peter's Church in Snelston - Allen had links to the village throughout her life.^[1]

While suffering from depression,^[3] she married, c. 1655, the merchant, Hannibal Allen (died 1663), and they had a son. After the husband's death, she expressed a form of insanity in religious form,^[4] characterized in her case by depression, self-doubt, and low appetite.^[5] The minister John Shorthose aided in her mental improvement which occurred between April 1666 and the spring of 1668, at which time she married Charles Hatt, a widower of Warwickshire,^[4] having joined a Presbyterian congregation in London beforehand.^[3]

Allen's rhapsodical work, Satan, his methods and malice baffled : a narrative of God's gracious dealings with Mrs. Hannah Allen, (afterwards married to Mr. Hatt) reciting the great advantages the devil made of her deep melancholy, and the triumphant victories, rich and sovereign graces, God gave her over all his stratagems and devices, was published by John Wallis, in London, in 1683.^[6][2]

Selected works

• 1683, Satan, his methods and malice baffled : a narrative of God's gracious dealings with Mrs. Hannah Allen, (afterwards married to Mr. Hatt) reciting the great advantages the devil made of her deep melancholy, and the triumphant victories, rich and sovereign graces, God gave her over all his stratagems and devices