[image error] Very little is known of the early life of John and Charles Allen, both of whom were probably born sometime in the 1790s. Although this is partly because of the lack of contemporary records, it is more a product of the elaborate and fantastical web of deceit they spent the majority of their lives weaving around themselves.

We do know that they were the sons of Thomas Gatehouse Allen, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, but beyond that things start to get a little murky. According to them, their fat...