H. Montagu Allan

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H. Montagu Allan bigraphy, stories - Canadian banker, ship owner, and military officer

H. Montagu Allan : biography

13 October 1860 – 26 September 1951

Lt.-Colonel Sir (Hugh Andrew) Montague Allan, CVO (October 13, 1860 – September 26, 1951), of Ravenscrag in Montreal’s Golden Square Mile. He was the principal heir of his father, Sir Hugh Allan, and became deputy Chairman of the family-owned Allan Steamship Line. He was President of several major Canadian financial institutions and the Montreal General Hospital. He co-founded and was President of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Montreal. In 1942, he and his wife donated their home, Ravenscrag, to the McGill University Faculty of Medicine, when it became known as the Allan Memorial Institute. He is best remembered as a sportsman who donated the Allan Cup, the trophy that is still awarded today to the Canadian men’s amateur ice hockey champions.

Early life

Born in Montreal’s Golden Square Mile, he was the second son of Sir Hugh Allan of Ravenscrag and Caroline Matilda Smith (1828-1881), the daughter of John Smith (d.1872), of Athelstane Hall, Montreal, and his wife Betsy Rae. From 1878 he was known as H. Montague Allan to avoid confusion with his cousin Hugh Andrew Allan (1857–1938). He studied at Bishop’s College School in Lennoxville, Quebec, then in Paris, before joining the family’s shipping business, the Allan Line.

Family

  • (Marguerite) Martha Allan (1895–1942), died unmarried.
  • Lt. Hugh Allan (1897-6 July 1917). Educated at Eton (where he was a prefect and elected a member of ‘Pop’) and McGill University. In 1915 he joined the The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada before transferring and becoming a Flight sub-Lieutenant with the Royal Naval Air Service. He was shot down on his first service flight over the English Channel during World War I. He was unmarried.
  • Anna Marjory Allan (18 November 1898- 7 May 1915), killed on the RMS Lusitania
  • Gwendolyn Evelyn Allan (20 April 1900-7 May 1915), killed on the RMS Lusitania

In May 1915, during World War I, Lady Allan, along with daughters Anna, 16, and Gwen, 15, were aboard the when it was sunk by German U-boat . After she and her daughters jumped into the water, Lady Allan was severely injured. While she was rescued, both daughters drowned. Anna’s body was never found but Gwendolyn’s was recovered the next day and returned to Montreal for burial. Rita Jolivet, the wife of Montague’s Scottish cousin, Jimmy Allan, was also a passenger on the Lusitania. Two years after this tragedy, the War claimed their third child, Hugh, who was killed in action.

Sir Montague and Lady Allan lived at Ravenscrag in the Golden Square Mile during the winters and Montrose at Cacouna during the summers. Allan also owned Allancroft a farm near Beaconsfield where he reared his horses. Allancroft burned down in 1938. After the death of their youngest daughters, the Allans spent less time at Montrose and in 1941 they sold the house to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin for $10,000. After their last child died, the Allans gave Ravenscrag to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. They are interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery next to two of their daughters.

The Allan Memorial Cup

When the Stanley Cup was restricted to competition between professional ice hockey clubs, amateur teams no longer had a championship to which they could aspire. Allan was a well-known ice hockey enthusiast and in 1908 he donated the Allan Cup, a trophy that would represent the highest level of achievement for amateur hockey teams across Canada.

The Cup is awarded annually to the National Senior Amateur Men’s Ice Hockey Champions of Canada, and is still competed for to this day. Like the Stanley Cup, the Allan Cup was originally a challenge trophy, meaning teams could issue challenges to the reigning champion hoping to defeat them and earn the status of champion for themselves. But when challenges for the Allan Cup grew so frequent that they became unmanageable the format was altered in 1914 so that regional champions would compete for this prestigious national trophy.