Biographical notes

There are only two linked pieces of hard evidence for this family. The first comes from a quote in a written reminiscence of Wallace Allan (1848-1931) who, in 1930, wrote

quote : John Allan - my Gt. Gt. Grandfather .... lived in Barr, headstone in Barr Churchyard. Shoemaker.

The second piece of evidence comes from the Kirkyard inscription mentioned by Wallace. Inscriptions of Barr Kirkyard were recorded and published by David Hunter in 1990. The inscription number 46 (page 12) is almost certainly the one mentioned by Wallace Allan. The transcription reads:

quote : In memory of Jean McCeahie in Barr spouse to John Allan Shoemaker who died 24 Feb 1802 aged 81 years. John Allan died 30th Dec. 1807 aged 74. And Margaret Allan died August 1813 aged 4 years. Also John Allan the erecter of this stone who died 13th Feb 1832 aged 77 years.

This gives the birth and death dates of John and Jean. It is reasonable to infer that the John Allan who was responsible for the erection of the gravestone was the son of John and Jean and that Margaret Allan was his daughter.

The surviving Old Parish Registers for Barr demonstrate just how patchy both the record keeping and the survival of the records were. There is apparently no record of the birth of John Allan (1733), or his marriage to Jean. It looks as if the gravestone inscription is the only surviving record of any kind for Jean.

However, there is a record in the registers of the birth of Margaret Allan to a John Allan and Ann Stewart on the 12 November 1809 which is four years before her recorded death (on the gravestone) in 1813. The register gives the name of Margaret's mother Ann Stewart. Furthermore, the registers show that these parents had another child named Margaret born on 4th December 1818 - a sure indication that the previous child of the same name had died in infancy. Another possible indication of a link is that the first two children born to John and Ann are named John and Jean - the forenames of their possible paternal grandparents.

The birth date of John, the father of Margaret, would seem (from his age and date of death inscribed on the gravestone) to be in 1755. The only Barr parish record which may link with this is a birth of John Allan on the 12th February 1760 to a John Allan (frustratingly, the name of the mother is not given in the register, or the occupation of the father). There is a difference of five years between the year of birth as given in the register and the calculated year of birth from the age given on the gravestone inscription. The exact age of a man who died aged over 70 in a rural village in the early 19th century would be based more on memory rather than written records so that a difference of five years is probably a reasonable error.

Apart from John Allan (born 1760), two other Allans are recorded in the registers from this period with just the name of the father (John Allan). These are William Allan (born 8/2/1763), of which no further record has been traced, and Robert Allan (born 17/4/1757).

To understand the possible relationship of Robert to the rest of the Allan family it is necessary to refer back to the family reminiscences of Wallace Allan (1848-1931), written in 1930. He makes mention of his Great Grandfather David Allan (son of John Allan (b. 1733), his Great Great Grandfather):

quote : David Allan - Great Grandfather - Born in Barr ... died comparatively young.

A little later he mentions his Grandfather, Wallace Allan (son of David Allan):

quote : Wallace Allan (Sargt Allan), my grandfather ..... married Ann Anderson .... Second marriage - Mary Logie

At the very end of his written reminiscences, he makes the following comment:

quote : May mention as interesting, a brother of this Gt. Grandfather Robt. Anderson married a Widow - Mrs Logie and Mary Logie (Grandfather Allan's second wife), was his daughter

This conflicts with other evidence from parish registers and death certificates which show that Mary Logie was the daughter of Hugh Logie and Agnes Humphry, and, after Hugh Logie's death, Agnes (his widow), married a Robert Allan not Robert Anderson.

The only Great Grandfather referred to by Wallace in the reminiscence is his own; David Allan (b1758). It therefore seems possible that he meant to write: '....a brother of this Gt. Grandfather, Robert Allan, married a widow - Mrs Logie and Mary Logie (Grandfather Allan's second wife), was her daughter.' He may have become slightly confused and wrote 'Anderson' instead of 'Allan' as the previous paragraph of his reminiscence mentions 'Ann Anderson' (first wife of his 'Grandfather Allan').

If this Robert (b. 1757) was the son of John Allan (b.1733), then he married Agnes Logie (nee Humphrey), before the birth of their first child in 1803. He would have been aged 46 and She would have been aged 32.