Penang: Straits Territories circa 1870s

[MarieC]

I've had instances of family members giving inaccurate information, and have come across misspellings from early times right up to the present day - it's quite common, sadly!  Sometimes you do order a wrong certificate - it's part of the glorious uncertainty of doing family history - but I hope this is the right man!

MarieC

[ShaunJ]

I did searches in various newspaper databases but didn't come up with much except that F. Maxwell Allan appears to have been a pretty good golfer for North Hants in the 1930's - is that the same man?

[Stoodly]

Shaun you are brilliant   

Yes that is certainly him, my Uncle told me that he has a trophy that belonged to him which was won against a visitng Australian golfing delegate in Hampshire. Quiite ironic that we have ended up here in Aus!

Are you able to send me the link?

Had a good trawl of the BDM indexes for Francis/Frances Allan/Allen today and there just isn't a close match. Funnily enough I can't find his wife Una Reid Allan's death either. She died on the 18th Nov 1951 on the Isle of Man. Not that these death certs will help solve the Penang conundrum but it would be good to have them in due course.

Do you have an interest in the Straits Territories?

Regards

Diana

[ShaunJ]

Do you have an interest in the Straits Territories?

Yes, I lived in Singapore for 4 years so that part of the world is fairly familiar ground for me.

I visited Penang and stayed at the E&O which is a lovely old hotel.
http://www.e-o-hotel.com/eoh/index.htm

The England & Wales GRO deaths index does not include the Isle of Man as far as I'm aware. You would need to get in touch with the Register Office in Douglas. See http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/iom/

Will send a PM re the newspaper items.

[Stoodly]

Thanks Shaun, for the IOM lead will follow up on your PM suggestion too.



Diana

[ShaunJ]

Found a few things in the Singapore National Library's digitised newspaper database:

A birth announcement on 1 Feb 1879 re birth of a son to the wife of John Allan at Northam Lodge Penang on 23 January.

Similar anouncements re a daughter born 28 March 1871, and a son born 19 October 1873

Death of John Allan, spirit merchant at 27 William Street, Johnstone , Penang on November 8 1909 aged 64

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Default.aspx

[ShaunJ]

Photo of Northam Lodge http://www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/2723780821/
 (but that may be a later building - said to be 1910)

[ShaunJ]

Apparently John Allan was a native of Quarrelton in Paisley and an engineer by trade http://www.rootschat.com/links/07uz/

So I wonder if things got garbled in the SIngapore press and he actually died in Scotland at 27 William Road,  Johnstone ?

[ShaunJ]

John Allan of Penang to be a J.P. - Straits Times Overland Journal 14 July 1872 p11