Hugh Allan
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Sir Hugh Allan KCMG |
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| Born |
29 September 1810 Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, Scotland, UK |
| Died | 9 December 1882 (aged 72) Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Nationality | Scots-Canadian |
| Occupation | Empire Builder, Shipping magnate, financier and capitalist. |
| Known for | Allan Shipping Line of Montreal |
Sir Hugh Allan, KCMG (September 29, 1810 – December 9, 1882) was a Scottish-Canadian shipping magnate, financier and capitalist. By the time of his death, the Allan Shipping Line had become the largest privately owned shipping empire in the world. He was responsible for transporting millions of British immigrants to Canada and the businesses he established from Montreal filtered across every sphere of Canadian life, cementing his reputation as an Empire Builder. His home, Ravenscrag was the principal residence of the Golden Square Mile.
Born at Saltcoats, Ayrshire, he was the second son of Captain Alexander Allan and his wife Jean Crawford (1782–1856). He was a first cousin of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt and his father was a first cousin of the Scottish bard, Robert Burns. In 1819, Allan's father established the Allan Shipping Line, which became synonymous with running goods and passengers between Scotland and Montreal. Hugh Allan received a parish education at Saltcoats before starting work in 1823 at the family's counting house of Allan, Kerr & Co., of Greenock. Three years later he was sent by his father to Montreal to work as a clerk for the grain merchant, William Kerr. In 1830, he took a year off to travel through his native Scotland (he later named his home, Ravenscrag, after his favourite childhood haunt in Ayrshire) and continued via London, New York and Upper Canada.
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