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William Allan (English politician)

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William Allan
"The Gateshead Giant". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1893.

Sir William Allan, DL (1837 – 28 December 1903) was a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament for Gateshead from 1893 until his death in 1903.

Sir William's professional career was as a steamship engineer in the early years of construction of these vessels and his business was the Scotia engineering works in Sunderland, England. He was also involved with a sea line, the Albyn Line, which bore the beginning letters of his surname. His early life included crew experience on steamships which were at one stage gun-running to America during the American Civil War, and he wrote of a number of dangerous escapades during this time.

He was knighted in the 1902 Coronation Honours.

His son, Walter Beattie Allan, published a book which was an illustrated account of his life, for his grandchildren. William Allan published a number of books of traditional Scottish poetry.

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Gateshead
1893–1903
Succeeded by