Allan Gilmour

Allan Gilmour

Allan Gilmour, shipbuilder, timber merchant (b at Craigton, Mearns [Strathclyde], Scot 29 Sept 1805; d at Glasgow, Scot 18 Nov 1884). Through his uncle, the key partner in the timber-importing firm of Pollok, Gilmour and Co of Glasgow, he obtained a clerk's position in 1819, rapidly securing promotion to the booming Miramichi branch and then returning to Scotland for a year of learning the shipbuilding trade, which he practised for Pollok, Gilmour in several of its thriving Canadian branches.

Several very large vessels were designed and built by him as timber carriers, and these made gigantic profits for the company in the 1830s and 1840s. He gave important evidence to parliamentary committees on the navigation laws and the measurement of ships. He retained his partnerships in the various Pollok, Gilmour branch firms until his death.

See also Shipbuilding and Ship repair; Scottish Canadians.