Sir Hugh Allan – Power point Presentation & Script

Sir Hugh Allan presentation – social studies-13vqaz8


Sir Hugh Allan Presentation Script


Early Life


Sir Hugh Allan was born on September 29, 1810 and died on December 9th, 1882 at the age of 72. Allan was born in North Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the second son of Captain Alexander Allan and Jean Crawford. Allan got an education from a parish school in Saltcoats. Allan started his first Job in 1823 at him family’s counting house and three years later he migrated to Montreal to work as a clerk for a grain merchant. (25 seconds, slide 1)



Rise of the Allan Line in Montreal


In 1831 Allan became a commission merchant with one of the Montreal’s leading importers, Allan shipped goods, built ships and purchased grain to make money. Allan was very successful with the help of family capital and contacts made through family connections. In 1835 Allan partnered with a company called Millar, Edmonstone & co. Shortly after Allan used his father’s money to expand his company’s shipping operations. (28 seconds, slide 2)



The Merchant’s bank of Canada


While still in his thirties Allan had become the director at the bank of Montreal and remained on the board for 10 years. Allan was the president of the Provincial Building Society which became the province’s main loan company in 1875. Allan named his bank “The Merchants Bank of Canada” in 1864. His bank had a capital of 6.7 million dollars with a reserve fund of 6.8 million dollars. Allan served as the president of the bank his entire life until death. (27 seconds, slide 3)


The Allan Royal Mail Line


In 1851 Allan had been elected president of the Montreal Board of Trade and had used his position to advocate and create steamship lines between Britain, Montreal and Portland. His steamships would carry Royal Mail from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and it would also transport immigrants to North America. Even though the Steamship line was all Allan’s idea the competition for the contract to carry it out was great. Allan had support from both sides of the Atlantic but he ended up losing the contract in 1853 to Samuel Cunard, a shipping magnate and the founder of the Cunard Line. Cunard ran into trouble immediately and Allan reached by building more ships that are far more superior than the ships that Cunard was using. In 1856 Allan had taken the contact for the line from Cunard with the help of politicians. In 1856 Allan had reported his investment on his company for $3.5 Million. The Allan line didn’t just carry mail, it also transported Royalty, Troops, Manufactured goods, general cargo and wheat all through the Atlantic. When Victoria Bridge opened in 1859, Allan depended on the Grand trunk railway and signed a 10 year contract with them. The Grand trunk railway was planning on making a shipping line of its own with firms in NYC and Boston that were rivals of Allan so Allan was threatened by this. (81 seconds, slide 4, 5, 6, 7)



Railways and the Pacific Scandal


When Allan was about to leave the Grand Trunk railroad, the Canadian gov’t had planned to build a railroad that goes through British Columbia called the Canadian Pacific Railway. Allan and Lewis Macperson’s companies had competed for the contract to build the Canadian Pacific railway. Allan had received $1 million dollars form the city of Montreal to build the railroad and in 1871 Allan had become the president of the Montreal Northern Colonization Railway. Allan promised that BC would join confederation if he built the railroad. Allan had donated $350K to john A Macdonald’s re election campaign to ensure that he would get the contract for the railroad if Macdonald had won but macdonald’s re election was a fail. Macdonald’s defeat in the re-election had crushed Allan’s dreams of supremacy in the railroad business. In 1873 it was found out that Allan had contributed a large sums of money to macdonald’s re-election campaign which was seen as bribery and is illegal. Macdonald claimed he was innocent but evidence shows that Macdonald and some of his colleagues in fact did receive money from Allan to secure the contract for the railroad. (63 seconds, slide 8, 9, 10)


Impacts Today


Sir Hugh Allan left behind a positive legacy. Although he is most known for bribing John A Macdonald. he did do a lot some positive things in his life like creating the Allan line which transported troops, immigrants and other goods, building railroads and creating The Merchants bank of Montreal. Most Allan’s accomplishments do not effect today as the merchant’s bank of montreal close in 1922 and the Allan lines are closed, he did build some railroads while in the railroad business which are still here today. While only in his thirties Allan was the director of the the merchants’ bank of canada and was the president of the Provincial Building society or the provinces biggest loan company. Sir Hugh Allan was probably the most successful person in canada at the time. (40 seconds, slide 11, 12)




The Canadian Encyclopedia – Sir Hugh Allan

Britannica – Hugh Allan

CBC – history – Hugh Allan

Wikipedia – Sir Hugh Allan