Shirley (Welsh) Allan (abt. 1768 - 1821)

Wife of David Allan — married 28 Oct 1788 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Died 31 Jul 1821 at about age 53 in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland

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Biography

Shirley Welsh was born about 1768, the daughter of Thomas Welsh, a carver and guilder in Edinburgh.^[1]

On the 28th October 1788, she married David Allan, the painter.^[1]

Charles Rogers (1879) provided the following snippet of Mrs. Allan's life after the death of her husband in 1796:

Shirley, youngest daughter of Thomas Welsh of Edinburgh, married, in 1788, David Allan, the eminent historical painter. Cherishing certain extravagant notions respecting the Jews, she, subsequent to her husband's death, which took place in 1796, sailed for India in the hope of there discovering the lost tribes. Her brother, Colonel Welsh, being made aware of her intention, met her on landing, and at length induced her to return home. She had five children, three of whom died in infancy. David Allan, the only surviving son, proceeded to India as a cadet in 1806; he was accidentally drowned.

Barbara Anne, only surviving daughter of David Allan and Shirley Welsh, married Mr Simon, a converted Jew. She accompanied him to America. Like her mother, she evinced a deep interest in the recovery of the ten tribes. She published, in 1836, an octavo volume, entitled "The Hope of Israel: Presumptive Evidence that the Aborigines of the Western Hemisphere are descended from the Ten Missing Tribes." Mrs Simon died at Leith in October 1874.^[2]

Shirley Allan, née Welsh, died on the 31st July 1821 in Musselburgh, East Lothian, aged about fifty-three years.^[3]

Research notes

• The estimated year of birth is based on having attained twenty years of age by the time of marriage in 1788.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Ramsay, Allan. “Memoirs of the late David Allan, Painter in Edinburgh; commonly called the Scots Hogarth.” The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy. Vol. II. Edinburgh: Abernethy & Walker, 1808.
2. ↑ Rogers, Charles. Genealogical Memoirs of John Knox and of the Family of Knox. London: printed for the Grampian Club, 1879. Extracts re: Shirley Welsh who m. David Allan, the painter; their son, David (d.1806), and their daughter, Barbara Anne (d.1874). (pp. 156-7)
3. ↑ The Scots Magazine, 1 August 1821 (pg 104). Death notice: “At Musselburgh, Mrs Allan, widow of David Allan, Esq. historical painter, Edinburgh.” Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick 2018-07-01, by subscription).