Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

George James Allan was born on 10 January 1893 at Allanburn Farm, Ashwick Flat, the seventh son of Robert and Helen (née Long) Allan. Robert Allan emigrated from Scotland in the mid-1860s and took up work as a shepherd then as station manager in the Mackenzie Country of South Canterbury. In 1877 he married New Zealand-born Helen Long. They were to have nine sons and three daughters. Mr Robert Allan was the first chairman of Ashwick Flat School, having been active in establishing the school. He held the position for some years. Our Ashwick School friends are fortunate in having of something like 50 acres of land attached to the school, so that though the quality is far from the best, ample room is afforded for the worthy observance of Arbor Day, and the local folk, headed by the energetic chairman, Mr R. Allan, are certainly not wanting in the excellent work of tree-planting, as illustrated, for instance, by this year’s performance — something like 400 trees being planted during the “Arbor Day” picnic. [Timaru Herald. 1 October 1912.] Back in August 1893, “Arbor Day was duly observed on Ashwick Flat, where a fair-sized gathering of residents and a great many children assembled in the school ground about midday. Three hundred trees, the gift of the chairman, Mr R. Allan were planted there in a short time. The ladies contributed a fair share of labour, and the children showed great interest in the new institution. An excellent tea, provided by the ladies of the district, was laid afterwards in the school, and dispensed by Mesdames Allen, Bain, and Harvey. A very pleasant day was brought to a conclusion by a social evening in the school; the only drawback to which being that many who would otherwise have come were prevented by the rain, which commenced about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.” George James Allan – his birth was registered as James Allan; he attended school as George Allan; thereafter he was named George James Allan. The Allan children were educated at Ashwick Flat School, where young George was admitted a term before his fifth birthday.

George James Allan had registered for compulsory military training at Fairlie, South Canterbury. He was a shepherd at Ashwick Flat, Fairlie when he was listed on the Reserve Rolls then drawn in the first military service ballot in November 1916. He had married Florence Agnes Rankin on 26 September 1916 at Timaru or Fairlie. He was at Waikaka, a shepherd for John Turnbull, when he enlisted on 13 January 1917 at Gore. He had previously been rejected as unfit for the military forces on account of a bad leg. Married and Presbyterian, he named his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs F. A. Allan, C/o Mrs McLennan, Wedderburn, Central Otago. He was medically examined by the Travelling Medical Board on 13 January 1917 at Gore. Standing at 5 feet 10 inches, weighing 147 pounds, and with a chest measurement of 34-37 inches, he had a fair complexion and brown eyes and hair. His sight was fine in the right eye, while the left measured 6/12. His hearing and lungs were normal, his colour vision good, and his limbs and chest well formed. He had had no illnesses, was free from diseases, was vaccinated, and was in good bodily and mental health. He did have some patches on his [left?] leg and thigh. Passed fit Class A, he was given leave granted till 22 January 1917. Private George James Allan had been posted to H Company, 25th Reinforcements on 20 January 1917. A Medical Board was assembled at Trentham on 17 April 1917. It was noted that he had patches of skin disease on his left leg and thigh. He had a cut on his right leg five years before. He was now experiencing pain and lameness on marching. His progress was stationary. The Board recommended discharge. He was then granted leave without pay from 18 April 1917.

By 1922, George and Florence were at Kimbell, where his brother Andrew was, and just a few years later at Burke’s Pass. In late March 1923, the old-established Mackenzie Dog Trialling club ran off its thirty-third annual competitions under very favourable circumstances. Geo. Allan was one of the most successful novices in the open Long Pull class, and was most successful in the District Maidens class also. Their eldest child, Leslie George Allan transferred to Burke’s Pass School in September 1923, and their daughter Florence Heather Allan (Heather) started there when she turned five. In 1926/1927 Leslie, Heather and Agnes transferred from Kimbell to Ashwick Flat School, and from there to Fairlie, when the family moved to Gorge Road in 1928. It was in the mid-1930s that George and Florence moved into farming a Clandeboye. Their fourth child, Margaret Ann Allan, transferred from Fairlie DHS to Clandeboye School in August 1934. Roger James Allan started at Clandeboye in 1935 and Hazel June Allan at the beginning of 1938. George and Florence farmed at Clandeboye until they retired to Dunedin in 1957.

George James Allan, a retired farmer of Dunedin, died at Timaru on 27 March 1960, aged 67 years. He was buried at Fairlie – In Loving Memory of George beloved husband of Florence Allan and loved father of Les, Heather, Nessie, Margaret, Roger & Hazel. He had drawn up his last Will at Timaru in June 1957. He appointed his older son, Leslie George Allan, and his son-in-law, John McKenzie Plunkett as executors and trustees. His wife, Florence Agnes Allan, was to have the sole use and enjoyment of his estate and after her death, his children in equal shares. On 8 March 1960, a Codicil to his Will was drawn up. He bequeathed the proceeds of his Temuka Post Office Savings Bank account to his son, Leslie George Allan, and his cool store shares to his grandson, Allan Coochey. Specific payments were to be made from his Timaru Bank of New Zealand account to his grandson Allan Coochey and his grandson Ian Coochey, while the balance of the amount in this account was to be divided equally among his other grandchildren. The file was then transferred from Timaru to the Dunedin Registry. Leslie was living at Hokitika when his father’s Will went to probate. Florence Agnes Allan, who had lived on in Dunedin for some years, died on 15 September 1974 at Waimate, where her son Leslie was then living. She was cremated at Salisbury Park where there is a stone inscribed to her memory.

Two brothers of George James Allan – Alexander Allan and Walter Allan - served in World War One, while two other brothers were listed on the Reserve Rolls along with George James – Richard Allan (who had served in the South African War) and William Alan Allan. Leslie George Allan, a son of George and Florence, served in World Wat Two, as did several nephews – Walter Alexander Yates, Walter Deryck Allan (prisoner of war in Italy, 1942), Alexander Edgar Allan, Wilfred Lloyd George Allan, Robert Allan Cartwright, Leslie George Allan, Ronald Wright Allan, and Lyndsay Wilfred Allan who served with the Seaforth Highlanders and was safe back in Scotland in May 1945 after five years as a prisoner of war in Germany. Joseph George Coochey, a son-in-law of George James Allan, appealed his call up for service in World War Two. He did serve, but in June 1944, on the appeal of George Allan, Clandeboye, it was recommended that he be released indefinitely from camp.

As for the family of George and Florence Allan – Leslie George Allan who had been farming and died, unmarried, in August 1978 at Waimate, was buried in the services section of the cemetery there. He appointed his nephew, Ian Frederick Coochey, as executor of his estate. Florence Heather (Allan) Plunkett died in April 1977 and was buried at Winton. Agness Helen May (Allan) Coochey died in 2006. Margaret Anne Allan died suddenly in April 1989 at Arrowtown where she had been living for some time and was buried there. Unmarried, she named specifically in her Will some nieces - Valmai Ann Allan, Stephanie Woodham (Stephanie Ruth Allan, daughter of her brother Roger) and Adrienne Finn (Adrienne Hazel Plunkett, daughter of her sister Florence Heather); and some nephews – Owen Sinclair and Gavin Ross Sinclair (sons of Margaret’s sister Hazel), as well as her sister Agnes Helen May Coochey and some friends. Roger James Allan who was born in 1929, married Margaret Frances Booth in 1953. They had a family of two daughters and three sons before they divorced in 1978. By 1989, Roger had moved to Australia, while Margaret remained in Christchurch with their family and died there in 2015. Hazel June (Allan) Sinclair was just 45 years old when she died in 1977; she was cremated, her ashes interred at Eastern Cemetery in Invercargill.

Sources

NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Collections – Record Number 0007541) [27 December 2024]; NZ BDM Historical Records (Department of Internal Affairs) [03 May 2015]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [27 December 2024]; Fairlie Cemetery & Salisbury Park Crematorium records [7 December 2024]; South Canterbury Times, 7 August 1893, 30 April 1894, Timaru Herald, 8 August 1893, 30 April 1908, 1 October 1912, 25 November 1916, 2 April 1923, 23 June 1944, Press, 16 September 1974, 10 August 1978, 5 April 1989 (Papers Past) [10 & 11 January 2025]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [27 December 2024]; Probate record (Family Search) [11 January 2025]

External Links

• Military personnel file

Related Documents

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Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Scoiety

Currently Assigned to

TS