George Allan (antiquary)

George Allan (1736–1800) was an English antiquary and attorney at Darlington.[1]

George Allan (left) and William Hutchinson, 1814 engraving by Joseph Collyer the Younger.

Life

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Allan spent much of his youth in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where he was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield. He became an assiduous collector of manuscripts.[2]

Works

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He was the author of several works relating to the history and antiquities of County Durham; he greatly aided William Hutchinson in his History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham. He presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London 26 quarto volumes of a manuscript relating principally to the University of Oxford, which he extracted from the public libraries there. He possessed a printing press, with which he produced several works; among them was a reprint of Robert Hegg's 1626 work, Legend of St Cuthbert.[3]

Family

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Allan married Anne Nicholson, and they had six children. The eldest son George Allan served as Member of Parliament for Durham.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ Gibson 1885, pp. 294–295.
  2. ^ Gibson 1885, p. 294.
  3. ^ Rose 1857, p. 340.
  4. ^ Gibson 1885, p. 295.

References

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  • Gibson, John Westby (1885), "Allan, George" , in Stephen, Leslie (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 1, London: Smith, Elder & Co, pp. 294–295

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