John Smith ("Jack") Allan born 1856-01-07 at Montreal died after 1893 in Australia, possibly at Wheeo, N.S.W.

[jmarler]

My great-grandfather, John Smith ("Jack") Allan, president of the Allan Steamship Line of Montreal and Glasgow, husband of Adelaide Stuart Gault (daughter of Matthew Hamilton Gault, founder of the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada) and father of seven children, including my paternal grandmother, Beatrice Isabel Allan (later Lady Marler, wife of Sir Herbert Marler), eloped in 1892 to Australia with his bank manager's wife, Edith (Patterson) Hebden. He is reported on numerous Ancestry sites as having died "after 1893" in Wheeo, N.S.W. The most recent record of him that I have been able to locate was on page 3 of the July 15, 1893 edition of the Vancouver Daily World: "News comes from Melbourne, Australia, that “Jack” Allan, who last year eloped from Montreal with the wife of R. Y. Hebden, manager of the Bank of Montreal in New York, is running a sheep farm in the interior of the island. He was recently seen in a hotel in Melbourne by a former associate in the Allan office at Montreal. Allan was in company with Mrs. Hebden, whom he styled “my wife.” He said his sheep run was 25 miles from the nearest settlement. When tendered some Canadian and American newspapers Allan refused them, saying he was not interested any longer in the affairs of those countries."

The combined resources of the Allan, Gault and Marler families appear to have been successful in obscuring most records of my great-grandfather's 37(?) years on this planet, but, of course, traces remain. I am currently researching Quebec Notarial records, which I hope will contain some information. To date, most seem to assume that he died on an unknown date in an unknown place in Australia. It is inconceivable to me that he died in total obscurity. I am forced to believe that there is some record of his death somewhere in Australia, vast as that country is. Any light that might be cast on this mystery by Geneanet members and others, would be greatly appreciated.

Jonathan Marler, 1222 Braeside Drive, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, L6J 2A4, [email protected], 905-338-2300 (work), 905-338-0728 (home), 905-334-3813 (cell), 905-338-6413 (fax)