Civil servant, municipal official.
Born at Woodbridge, Ontario on 31 March 1887, son of David and Susannah Allan, he moved with his family to Killarney in 1903. He attended Manitoba College and, during the First World War, served with the Cameron Highlanders and the Royal Flying Corps. He broke his neck after gliding his airplane over enemy territory and crashing into a bomb depression in Allied territory. Back in Canada, he served as deputy minister of the Manitoba Department of Natural Resources under J. S. McDiarmid.
He served as Reeve of the Municipality of East Kildonan from 1929 to 1933. His work with Aboriginal peoples began in 1938 when he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Reserves and Trusts, with responsibility for administration of land and trust funds for all reserves in the country. In 1949, he was elected a Chief of the Blood Indian Tribe of Alberta. He retired to Winnipeg.
On 21 February 1920, he married Marjorie Hopper Munroe, youngest daughter of George Fraser Munroe, at East Kildonan. They had two children, Barbara Monroe Allan (1923-2007) and Stuart Jeffery Allan (b 1928). He was an uncle of photographer Hugh Allan.
He died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 3 December 1956 while visiting his children and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Attestation Papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Marriage registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.
“D. J. Allan, Indian Affairs official, dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 December 1956, page 19.
We thank Jo Ann Allan and Susan Gillmeister for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 June 2013
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