Eldest of the five sons of Alexander Allan, founder of the Allan Line shipping business, James Allan was born in Saltcoats. He worked in the family business, trading between the Clyde and Canada, and personally captained the barque "Arabian", built in 1837.
On retiral from the sea he oversaw the shore-based aspects of the business, where his skill lay in sound judgment and judicious personnel management. A modest man, he took little part in public affairs but did undertake the chairmanship of both the Clyde Pilot Board and the Clyde Lighthouse Trust.
When failing health obliged him to withdraw from active involvement in business, he took up summer residence at Skelmorlie, dying here in August 1880. He was survived by four sons and four daughters.
THE commercial and maritime supremacy of Great Britain among the nations has been long acknowledged. Her great home trade, her extensive foreign commerce, and her unequalled merchant shipping, which year by year has increased, have combined to place her in this pre-eminent position. The last half century has witnessed an extraordinary development of each of these branches of trade, but their expansion has not been alike great; the progress of the nation's home and foreign commerce cannot be compared with the growth of her merchant shipping. While within that period the home trade has grown proportionally to her population and the exports and imports of the country have multiplied in value about seven-fold, the effective carrying capacity of her shipping has increased more than twenty-fold, allowance being made for the superiority of steam over sailing ships. The history of this remarkable expansion of the nation's shipping in its earlier stages, and indeed down to quite recent times, might be read in the history, if it were written, of a comparatively small number of her sons, for the shipping property of the country was, until recent years, in few hands, and its development was due to the enterprise and skill of a number of our countrymen - small in comparison to the vast multitude who now form the shipowners of the kingdom.
In the records of the men to whom we owe the early and great development of our merchant fleets, the Allan family must always occupy an honourable place.
The originator of the Allan Line of ships, the father of the subject of this notice, Alexander Allan, was born at Saltcoats, Ayrshire, in 1780.
He was a fine example of the old Ayrshire stock from whom so many of our successful merchants have sprung. Strong of frame, sagacious, self-reliant, and enterprising, with strict notions of honesty and honour, Alexander Allan was the sort of man to strike out from the humble rank in which he was born, and to make his way in the world.
He was by trade a ship carpenter, and for a time pursued his calling at sea, but at an early age he rose to the position of captain and part-owner of the craft in which he sailed. During the Peninsular war the brig which he then commanded, the "Jean" (named after his wife, Jean Crawford), was employed carrying cattle and other supplies to the coast of Spain for the British army. The vessels thus employed were usually put under the protection of an armed convoy to ensure their safety; but impatient of the restraint and delay to his voyages which this imposed upon him, it was Captain Allan's practice to separate himself from the protecting warship and pursue his voyage unaccompanied. His trips to Spain, although somewhat hazardous, were invariably successful, and were performed in shorter time than would have been possible under convoy, where the slowest vessel regulated the pace for all the others.
The "Jean" was the pioneer of the now well-known line to which Captain Allan gave the name. The more ordinary employment of this little vessel was in the Canadian trade, then in its infancy - a trade which the vessels of the Allan Line have ever since regularly pursued.
Captain Allan in his brig made spring and fall voyages between Montreal and Greenock. The tiny cargoes which formed the lading of the craft of this early period in the Canada trade were to a large extent bought on ship's account, and the master of the ship was at once a navigator and a merchant trader.
The manufactured goods which were exported to the colony were the property of the dry goods merchants, many of whom had houses on both sides of the Atlantic; but to a great extent the coal, iron, herrings, sugar and other West India produce, which formed part of the outward cargo, and much of the wheat, peas, flour, pot ashes, and wood with which the vessels were laden homewards, were bought and sold by the master of the ship.
In this kind of trade Captain Allan was an adept, and he was frequently known to sell within a few hours of his arrival in Greenock from Montreal the wheat and flour which he had brought home in his vessel on ship's account. His market lay in Greenock, Port-Glasgow, Paisley, Helensburgh, Largs, and the smaller places in the neighbourhood.
Glasgow had not then (1815-24), nor for many years after, become the port of loading or of discharge of the Canadian traders, although it furnished much of their outward cargoes, which were conveyed to Greenock by lighter. For greater convenience in the conduct of his shipping business, Captain Allan with his family removed to Greenock, where Alexander, the youngest of his five sons, was born.
In the winter of 1824 Captain Allan had the brig "Favorite" built in Montreal for himself and his co-owners, the outfit for the vessel being sent from this country. It is interesting to note, as an incident of these early times, that the marine architect who designed the vessel received five pounds for his services. The "Favorite" was appropriately named; she proved a most successful vessel, and was in much request as a safe and speedy conveyance, both of goods and passengers. In this vessel Captain Allan's eldest son James, whose portrait accompanies this paper, together with a younger brother, Bryce, received their nautical training.
In 1830, the ship "Canada," of 329 tons register, was built for Captain Allan by Robert Steel & Co., Greenock, and the launch of this monster vessel, as she was then regarded, was one of the notable events of the time. Crowds turned out to see her, and her arrival in Montreal produced quite a sensation among the colonists. Captain Allan himself commanded the "Canada," his son James having succeeded him in the command of the "Favorite."
The superiority of the British-built ship over the colonial led Captain Allan to contract with Robert Steel & Co. for another ship, the barque "Arabian." This vessel was built in 1837, and James was promoted to her command. The ownership of these latter vessels was almost exclusively confined to the Allan family. The first voyage of the "Arabian" was made from Greenock to Canada in June, 1837, and on her return to the Clyde she proceeded to Glasgow, the increasing depth of the river - the result of dredging operations - making this now possible. A depth of nearly fifteen feet at the top of spring tides had been attained upon the shallows of the river bed. It is worthy of remark that in 1880 the same parts of the river were found to have a depth at the corresponding state of tide of twenty-eight feet, a remarkable proof of the possibility of improving a navigable river, and a testimony to the energy of the Trustees of the Clyde Navigation.
The "Canada", which appears to have been a deeper drafted vessel than the "Arabian," was not permitted to ascend the river till the following year, 1838. From this period onwards the terminal port of the inward Clyde-bound ships with general cargo and their outward loading port was Glasgow, and thither Captain Allan, and such of his sons as still remained in this country, removed.
Vessel after vessel was added to their fleet, and James, the eldest son, retired from the sea to conduct ashore the business of their now extensive shipping.
The second son, Hugh, had at an early age been settled by his father at Montreal in the office of the agency of the ships, where Andrew at a later period followed him. Here Hugh, who possessed in a high degree the energy of his father, speedily came to the front, becoming, while yet young, a partner, and ultimately head of the firm; and afterwards receiving from the Queen the honour of knighthood, in recognition of the important services he rendered to the colony in promoting its maritime and general commerce. James was at an early period joined by his brother, Alexander, the youngest of the family, in the management of the Glasgow business.
The increase of their fleets enabled the Allans to establish a branch of their service at Liverpool, and an emergency arising requiring the continued presence in the agency there of some member of the family, Bryce, who now commanded one of the ships, withdrew from the sea and took charge of the Liverpool branch.
Thus the five sons of Alexander Allan were settled at the terminal ports of their vessels, the principal direction of the affairs of the ships resting with the firm of which James was the head. Some years previously old Captain Allan retired from active duty, but he lived to see taken the initial step which ended in the substitution of steamers for sailing ships in the Canadian trade.
It needed the courage and skill of the second generation to effect this change. When the proposition was first made, the old man gravely shook his head and warned his sons to take care what they were about. He died in 1854. In this year the first Allan steamer, the "Canadian," was launched from the building-yard of the Dennys of Dumbarton, and was speedily followed by three others, constructed by the same eminent builders, the "Indian," "Anglo-Saxon," and "North American." The two first-named steamers found for a time profitable employment in the Government transport service during the Crimean War. This over, they settled down to the trade for which they were built, the Canadian mail service subsidized by the provincial Government of Canada. This service was at first fortnightly in summer and monthly in winter, five years later it became weekly all the year round.
The Allan fleets have kept pace with the times. The wooden sailing ships gave place to iron of larger tonnage, and when driven out of their original employment by steamers, have found their occupation in the Eastern and other distant trades. The steamers of the line have year by year increased in number and dimensions. The disasters which befel them in the outset of the mail service, when the navigation of the gulf and river St. Lawrence was less safe than it is now, and commanders were less skilled in handling large steamers, would have daunted fainter hearts; but misfortune only stimulated the Allan brotherhood to renewed effort until they established for their steamers the high reputation for safety which they have long enjoyed.
James Allan was born at Saltcoats in 1808. His knowledge of ships, acquired in the arduous profession of a practical mariner, and his commercial experience, extending over many years, placed him at much advantage in the construction and management of vessels, and the brotherhood, of whom he was the eldest, who were from their earliest years more or less closely allied in the business of the ships, formed a strong commercial council, to whose united judgment and enterprise the earlier growth of the fleets was due.
James Allan's forte, as a business man, lay in the soundness of his judgment and his practical acquaintance with the details of his business. He was judicious in the selection of men for the various posts in his service, and, kind and amiable in manner, he had the faculty of attaching them to himself and of drawing out their abilities, of which he was always ready to take advantage. Modest and retiring, he never sought position as a prominent citizen. Beyond filling, as he did for some years, the Chairmanship of the Clyde Pilot Board and that of the Clyde Lighthouse Trust, and a place in the Clyde Navigation Trust, he took no part in public affairs.
In Church matters he belonged to the United Presbyterian body, and was an office-bearer in the church of which Professor Eadie was pastor.
In the later years of his life he was obliged by failing health to withdraw from active participation in business. He took up his summer residence at Skelmorlie upon the Clyde, where he could see his ships as they passed to and fro upon their voyages. He died at Skelmorlie in August, 1880, and is survived by four sons and four daughters.
In recent years the Allan Line, under the direction of the firm of which Alexander, the youngest of the family, is the head, has continued to expand. A writer in an English journal published in September, 1884, who has taken the pains to classify the merchant fleets of the world in the order of their magnitude, has assigned to that over which the Allan flag floats the seventh place, six other lines alone surpassing it; and among the privately-owned it is ranked the first in number and tonnage - the others which excel it being owned by corporate or other joint-stock companies.
Its steam trade has not been confined to Canada, but includes, besides, services more or less continuous to Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the Argentine Republic, conducted from the Clyde, Liverpool, and London. The increase of the trade of this country with British North America during the last fifty years has been enormous. The exports of British produce, which in 1833 were of the value of £2,092,550, reached, in 1883, £9,155,927. The imports of cereals in 1833 amounted to 20,000 tons; in 1883 they reached 260,000 tons; and in this year Canada supplied this country with 53,135 oxen and 94,285 sheep. But the increase of the trade of Montreal during the half century is still more remarkable. In 1835 its imports were valued at $3,543,600; in 1882 they reached $50,527,497, or an increase of about 1,400 per cent. In 1835 its exports were valued at $1,154,270; in 1882 they reached $26,503,001, or an increase of about 2,400 per cent.
Canada has in recent years adopted a policy of protection, and claims as the result that her manufacturing industries have been greatly developed and the general prosperity of her population increased. But it should not be overlooked that this result is being attained to a large extent at the expense of the mother country, which continues to be the chief purchaser of her agricultural produce, supports the fleets which protect her shores, and provides a large proportion of the capital sunk in the colony's railways and public works, her own manufactures the while being steadily excluded from Canadian markets.
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