Hon. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Hugh Montagu Allan

Clubman, sportsman and business man of marked enterprise—in these few words are summed up the life record of Sir Hugh Montagu Allan, whose interests have been many and whose activities far-reaching. To accumulate a fortune requires one kind of genius, to retain a fortune already acquired, to add to its legitimate increment and to make such use of it that its possessor may derive therefrom the greatest enjoyment and the public the greatest benefit, requires quite another kind of genius. Sir Hugh Montagu Allan belongs to that younger generation of business men of Montreal called upon to shoulder responsibilities differing materially from those resting upon their predecessors. In a broader field of enterprise they find themselves obliged to deal with affairs of greater magnitude and to solve more difficult and complicated financial and economic problems.

Such was the position in which Sir Hugh Montagu Allan found himself following the demise of his father, Sir Hugh Allan, an eminent figure in shipping and financial circles of Canada. The mother, Matilda Caroline (Smith) Allan, was the second daughter of the late John Smith, a prominent merchant of Montreal and it was in this city that Sir Hugh Montagu Allan was born October 13, 1860. His education acquired in Bishop’s College School at Lennoxville, was supplemented by study in Paris, France. He was a young man of but twenty-two years at the time of his father’s death and under the terms of his father’s will entered the firm of H. & A. Allan, steamship agents. It was in the latter connection that they established the Allan Line of steamships, then and now the most important factor in passenger service and freight carrying trade between Great Britain and Canada. More and more he has come into prominence, as he has given proof of his power to carefully, systematically, wisely and successfully promote the important interests of mammoth corporate concerns. He is today president of the Merchants Bank of Canada, the Acadia Coal Company, the Railway Securities Company, and vice president of the Canada Paper Company and the Canadian Vickers, Limited. His name is on the directorate of the Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company, the Ogilvie Flour Mills Company, the Canadian Transfer Company, the Labrador Company, the Dominion Iron & Steel Company, the Dominion Steel Corporation, the Mutual Life Association Company of Canada, the Canadian Cottons, Limited, the Royal Trust Company, the Montreal Investment Trust and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company of Montreal.

In December, 1878, he assumed the name of Hugh Montagu instead of Hugh Andrew Allan, by which he was previously known. Long connected with the Montreal Board of Trade, he served as a counselor for several years and as its treasurer in 1891 and 1892. Further interests of a public character which have profited by his cooperation include the Montreal Horticultural and Fruit Growing Association, of which he is a director and St. Andrew’s Society, of which he is president. His prominence as a sportsman is indicated in the fact that he is an ex-master of the Montreal Hunt. His horses have won the Queen’s plate, the Montreal hunt cup, members’ plate and hunters’ handicap steeplechase cup. Sir Hugh Montagu Allan is now president of the Montreal Jockey Club, vice president of the Canadian Racing Association and director of the International Horse Show Association. He was formerly vice president of the Montreal Racket Club and a director of the Montreal Skating Association and the Amateur Skating Association of Canada. His activities have touched many benevolent and charitable projects. He has been a director of the Sailors’ Institute, the Charity Organization Society, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and is vice president of the Montreal General Hospital. He gave five thousand dollars to the Charles Alexander Memorial Fund and the Allan Cup as a perpetual trophy for competition between amateur hockey clubs in 1910. He is one of the founders of the Mount Royal Club and the Winter Club at Montreal.

In October, 1893, Sir Hugh Montagu Allan wedded Marguerite Ethel Mackenzie, a daughter of the late Hector Mackenzie of Montreal. She was elected a member of the Central Council Victoria League at London, England, in 1909, and is honorary president of the Daughters of the Empire in Montreal. Sir Hugh and Lady Allan at their Montreal home, Ravenscrag, entertained H. R. H. Prince Arthur of Connaught in 1906, and H. I. H. Prince Fushimi of Japan in 1907. Sir Hugh was presented to the late King Edward in March, 1910, and Lady Allan was presented in July, 1906. He was knighted June 24, 1904, became C. V. O. in 1907, and Order of the Rising Sun of Japan (third class) in 1907. He was appointed honorable lieutenant colonel of the First Battalion, Fifth Regiment, Royal Highlanders, in 1911. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. In addition to Ravenscrag in Montreal, Sir Hugh has a summer home, Montrose, at Cacouna, and another estate, Allancroft, in Beaconsfield, province of Quebec. That he is an eminent and well known figure in club circles is indicated by the fact that he belongs to the St. James Club, Mount Royal Club, Canada Club, Auto and Aero Club, Montreal Hunt, Montreal Jockey Club, Winter Club, Royal Montreal Golf Club, Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, Canadian Club, Forest and Stream Club, Lachine Boating and Canoeing Club, Montreal Curling Club, Back River Polo Club, Montreal Racket Club, Montreal Thistle Curling Club, all of Montreal; Toronto Club, York Club of Toronto; Rideau Club, of Ottawa; Racquet and Tennis Club and Knickerbocker Club, of New York; and Junior Carlton Club, Canada Club, and Royal Thames Yacht Club, of London, England.

The subjective and objective forces of life are in him well balanced, making him cognizant of his own capabilities and powers, while at the same time he thoroughly understands his opportunities and his obligations. To make his native talents subserve the demands which conditions of society impose at the present time is the purpose of his life, and by reason of the mature judgment which characterizes his efforts at all times, he stands today with those whose activity in various lines does not exclude active participation in and support of other vital interests which go to make up human existence.