Mrs. Colin Allan, widow
- pshorner6
- Mar 24
- 12 min read
Updated: Mar 31
G.B. 6d lilac on July 11th, 1863, cover from London, England to Upper La Have, Nova Scotia. Addressed to British North America, Nova Scotia, Lunenburgh County, Upper La Have, Mrs. Colin Allen. Cancelled London JY 11 63. Backstamps H(alifax) JY 20 1863, Lunenburg JY 22 63, Bridgewater JY 23 1863. Manuscript "J.McG.A." on front.
G.B. 6d lilac on September 2nd, 1865, cover from London, England to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Addressed to British North America, Nova Scotia, Lunenburgh County, Bridgewater, Mrs. Colin Allen. Cancelled London SP 2 65. Backstamps Halifax SP 14 65, Bridgewater SP 15 1865. Manuscript "Received September 1866" on front
G.B. 6d lilac on March 31st, 1866, cover from London, England to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Addressed to British North America, Nova Scotia, Lunenburgh County, Upper La Have, Mrs. Colin Allen. Cancelled London MR 31 66. Backstamps H(alifax) AP 11 1866, Bridgewater AP 13 1866. Manuscript "J.McG.A." on front.
G.B. 3d rose on small October 6th, 1874 mourning cover from London, England to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Addressed to Mrs. J. P. Miller, Bridgewater, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Dominion of Canada. Cancelled at London S.E. OC 6 74, backstamps Halifax OC 17 74, Bridgewater OC 19 1874. Manuscript "Paid" on the front.
The three covers addressed to Mrs. Colin Allan are undoubtedly from the same sender. The handwriting is identical, as is the spelling of "Lunenburgh". The annotation "J.McG.A." on two of the covers indicates the letters were from Mrs. Allan's youngest son James McGrigor Allan. In the 1861 census, the 33-year-old James M. Allan was a lodger in St. Pancras, Middlesex, England, listing his profession as "author".
The mourning cover is also in James M. Allan's hand. It is addressed to his sister, Margaret Christian Allan Miller (wife of Joseph Pernette Miller) with whom their mother was living at the time of her death, May 8th, 1874. The use of mourning covers dates back to the mid 1700s, but widespread use did not develop until the mid 1800s. They are readily identifiable by a black edge on the folded letter sheet or edge of the envelope. They were used to send death announcements and continued to be used during the mourning period by grieving family members, generally about a year.
Jane "Jenny" Gibbon Knox born in 1787 at St. Croix in the West Indies, the daughter of a surgeon Peter John Knox M.D. and his wife Jane Gibbon. Although her father had been born in the West Indies, her mother was from Aberdeen, Scotland. It is there Jane found a husband, a medical doctor like her father, Colin Allan, M.D., Staff Surgeon 1st class. He was born October 15th, 1772, the son of Colin Allan, a silversmith in Aberdeen. On April 8th, 1820, Jane and Colin were married in Aberdeen. Ann Gibbon, Jane's sister, notes in her diary April 30th, 1820, "Doctor and Mrs. Allan are come home from their marriage jaunt". According to his military record, Colin Allan's career began as a hospital mate February 20th, 1794. He became an apprentice surgeon on October 4th, 1795. He joined the Hill Force of the 7th West Indian Regiment and was promoted to regimental surgeon May 8th, 1806. He became Staff Surgeon March 25th, 1826, and was at the end of his career chief medical officer of Halifax. He retired February 17th, 1835. The Allans moved from Nova Scotia to Fredericton, N.B. in 1836, where Dr. Allan died May 15th, 1850 (aged 77). His attending physician noted "he had been gradually declining for some months and had suffered from enlargement of the prostate gland" with pneumonia being the immediate cause of death. Jane was in Halifax at the time. He is buried in the Old Burial Ground, Fredericton, with his son Peter John Allan. A poem of October 1852 written by Ann Gibbon says, "When looking at Dear Jenny Knox; In Widows cap, oer gray white locks..."
When Jane received these letters from her son, she was living with her daughter Margaret Christian Allan Miller, her son-in-law Joseph Pernette Miller, and their four children in La Have, Nova Scotia. Jane died at La Have, Nova Scotia on May 8th, 1874, age 88 years and is buried in Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery, Bridgewater.
Small stampless May 2_, 1853 3 pence inter-provincial mourning cover from Fredericton, N.B. to La Have, N.S. Addressed to Mrs. Jos. Miller, care of Miss Aitken, La Have, Lunenburgh, Nova Scotia. Cancelled Fredericton, MY 2_, 1853 with red "3". Backstamps St. John, New Brunswick; Annapolis, N.S., MY 30, 1853; H(alifax) JU 1 1853; Lunenburg, N.S. JU 2 1853; Bridgewater, N.S. JU 3, 1853. Two manuscript notations on front, in ink "chg to Box no 40 WMG" and a barely legible, probably erased pencil notation, "Mrs. Gall". There is an ink manuscript notation inside the back flap "address WHGall, Fredericton, N.B. The wax seal has been cut away.
Jane and Colin's daughter, Margaret Christian received this letter a few months after her marriage to Joseph Pernette Miller. This letter's sender, Abi Gall (1793 - 1864) and her husband, William Henry Gall (1780 - 1861), were both born in England and had emigrated to Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1836, around the same time Dr. Colin Allan retired there. The letter may have been wedding congratulations for Margaret Christian Allan, but why the mourning cover? Perhaps Abi Gall was still memorializing the loss of Margaret Christian's father in 1850. Also, why the "care of" and who was Miss Aitkin? An early map of the lower La Have shows an Aitkins farm directly across the river from the Miller lands. McAlpine’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1868-1869 has Charles C. Aitkin, physician in Lunenburg. We know he had, at one time, practiced medicine in Bridgewater. We know from his age in the 1881 census, Dr. Aitkin would have been 29 when this letter was written in 1853. Was Miss Aitkin a sister of his? Were the newlyweds staying with her?
Margaret Christian had married a grandson of Joseph Pernette who had pioneered the important industries of farming, lumbering, and shipbuilding on the LaHave River.
Among the passengers on the ship Murdoch that arrived in Halifax Harbour in 1751 was a young officer by the name of Joseph Pernette. The Murdoch was one of several ships bringing German, French, and Swiss immigrants. Known as “Foreign Protestants,” these Lutherans and Calvinists were recruited for Governor Cornwallis in the early 1750s to provide a balance to the Roman Catholic Acadian population. Pernette was born in Alsace and had served in both German and French regiments before coming to Nova Scotia. He was immediately commissioned, first in Proctor’s and later in Gorham’s Company of Rangers.
When the Foreign Protestants were transferred to the newly laid-out town of Lunenburg in 1753, Pernette received a town lot on the waterfront. The following year he married Frederica Augusta, the daughter of Johann Erad, his neighbour in town. He quickly became a prominent citizen of Lunenburg, serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lunenburg County from 1761 to 1770.
After the Deportation of the Acadians, Governor Lawrence created new townships to accommodate immigrants from New England whom he brought in to replace them. The township of New Dublin was laid out on the west side of the LaHave River, where in 1765, Pernette obtained an enormous grant of land, 20,000 acres for himself and 200-acre lots for each of twelve associates. The grant extended from the falls above the head of tide to the narrows at the estuary, and he was expected to bring in settlers to populate the area. He left Lunenburg and established his homestead at what is now West LaHave, where his house overlooked a brook dropping down to the river.
Pernette cleared land for his farm, cutting trees and hauling away large rocks from the drumlin soil. He built a sawmill at the mouth of the brook and a gristmill on a waterfall a little higher up. He brought a shipwright from England and constructed the first ship on the LaHave to export his lumber. He cleared a road to Lunenburg from the east side of the river, accessed by a ferry later operated by his son John, giving the settlement the name West LaHave Ferry. The population grew as he brought in more settlers to work on his farm and other operations.
Pernette was the leading member of the West LaHave community. He was appointed Justice of the Peace, performing marriages when there was no permanent clergyman, and dealing with local disputes. He headed the New Dublin Company of Militia and retained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel into his seventies. He continued to encourage settlers to come to work the land along the river
At the outbreak of the American Revolution, the West LaHave settlement consisted of 72 people. Threats from raiding privateers, supported by sympathetic former New Englanders in the area, forced Joseph to lead his family on a long overland trek to Windsor, where they remained until the danger was past.
Joseph and Frederica Augusta had a large family. Their son John took over the management of the farm when Joseph retired to Halifax towards the end of his life. Their daughter Catherine and her husband Garrett Miller lived a fine house that Pernette built and gave to them at their marriage. Other family members scattered, but John’s descendants continued to run the farm until the early 21st century.
Joseph Pernette died in Halifax in 1807. Joan Dawson, “Joseph Pernette of West LaHave,” Historic Nova Scotia, accessed March 30, 2025, https://historicnovascotia.ca/items/show/159.
Margaret Christian's husband Joseph was also a descendent of Nova Scotia immigrant Jacob Miller (1742-31 May 1825) who may have been the brother to Garret (born 1738) and Peter Miller, whose ancestors migrated from the Palatine region of Germany to England and then settled in Ireland and from there to America. All three men were apparently loyalists during the American Revolution. Jacob appears to have been a successful businessman at New York City before the war. He was married to Elizabeth Bentley (1747-1817) and would eventually have six children, many of whom would have been born in New York – son Garret (1770-1840), daughters Abigail (died 1834), Ann (1774- 28 May 1859), Elizabeth (died 29 May 1857), Margaret (died 26 Feb. 1864), and Mary (died 1833). Jacob arrived in Halifax in the 1780s as a loyalist. He purchased land and built a wharf at the foot of Morris Street, and by the four corners formed by the intersection of Morris and Water Streets, built four houses—one which was the family home. He traded with the West Indies, engaging especially in exporting lumber, and also furnished supplies for the military.
Jacob associated with a Lutheran church known as the Little Dutch Church (later succeeded by the present St. George’s on Brunswick Street), then transferred to the more convenient St. Paul’s Church where he was later buried. In the same plot lies his wife Elizabeth and some of his daughters; his other daughters are found in Camphill Cemetery. His son Garrett was a successful merchant and during the War of 1812 was appointed prize commissioner. He married Catherine Pernette who was the daughter of Colonel Joseph Pernette of La Have. Garret kept up his business and real estate interests in Halifax but made extensive purchases in the La Have area. He was instrumental in the erection of an Episcopalian Church on his estate and was elected and sat in provincial parliament for Lunenburg County from 1837-1841. Their son, Joseph Pernette Miller (1808-1881), merchant, MPP and justice of the peace in Bridgewater, married Margaret C. Allan of Scotland.
Margaret Christian and Joseph Pernette Miller had four children: Catherine Jane A Miller, born 19 Dec 1853, Elizabeth Miller, born 15 August 1855, Annie J Miller, born 24 Jan 1857, and Joseph Arthur Ambrose Miller, born 26 April 1859.
Their daughter, Annie, never married. She lived in Glen Allan in Bridgewater. In the 1891 census for Bridgewater, East Side, the widowed Margret C Miller, 69, is living with three of her unmarried children, Arthur, 32, Elizabeth, 35, Anna, 34.
Canada # 41 on June 13, 1887, cover from French Village to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Addressed to Miss Annie Miller, Bridgewater, N.S. Cancelled French Village, N.S. JU 13 87, Backstamp Halifax Canada JU 13 87, Bridgewater, JU 16 87. Multiple manuscript copies "Mss Fannie Croucher" on back.
Annie Miller would have been 30 years old when she received this letter from 22-year-old Fannie Croucher of Halifax.
The Liverpool Advance, December 1, 1897, reported, "Margaret C. Miller, relict of the late Joseph P. Miller, Esq. of Bridgewater, died at her late residence, Glen Allan, on Thursday evening, 25th ult., aged 75 years. Although in poor health for some time, pneumonia was the immediate cause of death."
Two of Jane and Colin Allan's sons became writers. Peter John Allan (1825-1848) studied law but the success of several of his youthful poems encouraged him to devote himself to writing. He submitted a book of poetry in manuscript form to a publisher in England, but before it could be printed, Peter became feverish and died after a brief illness at age 23. Four years after his death, "The Poetical Remains of Peter John Allan, Esq., with a short biographical notice, edited by the Rev. Henry Christmas, M.A., F.R.S." were published in London, 1853. The Dictionary of National Biography's entry for Allan notes, "The memoir, which is unaffectedly pathetic, is by the poet's brother, J,. McGrigor Allan. The poems show much metrical skill, and the lyrics interspersed in a fragment of a drama, entitled "Pygmalion", are very melodious. But Allan evidently wrote largely under Byron's influence, and there is throughout the volume an absence of any striking originality. The majority of the poems are evidently very youthful compositions, and fail to justify the extravagant expectations expressed by Allan's friendly critics of his future achievements." Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 1, p. 296.
James McGrigor Allan was born in 1827 in Bristol. By the 1850s, Allan was living in Aberdeen where he began his writing career with collecting his brother's poems for publication and authoring a play The Woman-Hater (1856). He switched to novels starting with Ernest Basil. Between 1857 and 1903 he published nine novels and several journal articles. Allan is most notable for being a staunch anti-suffrage advocate writing two books supporting his views, The Intellectual Severance of Men and Women (1860) and Woman Suffrage Wrong in Principle and Practice (1890). He later moved to Surrey and married in 1886. He opposed women's right to vote and argued that universal suffrage would cause the disruption of domestic ties, the desecration of marriage and the dissolution of the family. He also argues that woman's natural structure doesn't allow them to do so. He attributed the agitation for equal rights to the problem of the "superfluous women" on account of emigration and the growing objection of middle and upper-class men to marriage. He was a member of the Anthropological Society of London. Allan died in 1916 in Epsom.
The Alexander Hamilton Connection
Jane Gibbon Knox Allan's paternal grandfather, Hugh Knox is most famous for “having advised” a 15-year-old Alexander Hamilton on St. Croix “to go to America,” and “having recommended” Hamilton “to some of my old friends there.” Although Alexander Hamilton only knew Knox for a few months on St. Croix, Knox’s influence on Hamilton was profound and the two continued to correspond for years after.
Knox was born in Ireland about 1733; He emigrated to America in 1751, and found employment as assistant teacher under the Reverend John Rodgers at Middletown, Delaware. He fell in with frivolous companions, and on one occasion entertained them with an imitation of Dr. Rodgers's preaching. Overcome with remorse for this act of irreverence, he went to Princeton and applied for admission to the college, with the intention of devoting himself to the Christian ministry. He was graduated in 1754, and, after studying theology a year longer, was ordained, and went to Saba in the West Indies as pastor of the Reformed Dutch church on that island. In 1772 he resigned his charge in order to become pastor of the Presbyterians who had settled on the Danish island of Santa Cruz. He received the degree of D.D. from Glasgow university, and published two volumes of sermons (Glasgow, 1772). Knox was the author of numerous religious books, his sermons were often printed as pamphlets, and these works were sold in the West Indies, New York, and elsewhere.
In addition to being a Presbyterian minister, Hugh Knox was a medical doctor. When Knox moved to the Danish Island of St. Croix in 1772, he was not licensed to practice medicine there, even though he started treating patients soon after his arrival. He applied for a medical license in 1775 and received it in January 1776. He died in St. Croix, West Indies, on October 9, 1790,
Hugh Knox’s Death and Obituary
His obituary appeared in the next issue of The Royal Danish American Gazette (October 13, 1790):
"On Saturday the 9th Instant, departed this Life, the Reverend Doctor HUGH KNOX, aged 63, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, and Physician; Eminent in, and an ornament to the former Profession, Judicious and successful in the latter.—A Tender and affectionate Husband, the best of Fathers, and a sincere, faithful, and firm friend, and an Universal lover of Mankind—Possessed of every Virtue which made him beloved and respected here, and we doubt not, happy hereafter—19 years was he a residenter in this Island, during which time he was anxiously employed in Promoting the Public and Private good of this Community, His whole life, when his Precarious Health wou’d permit, was a busy scene of Public and Private exertions for the welfare of his Fellow-creatures, and we flatter ourselves that his Christian endeavours have not been void of success.—Christian Fortitude and Resignation mark’d his last illness, and he met Death with a smile—his value was too well known to dwell longer on it here, and suffice it to say, that he was one of God’s noblest Works."
In his will, Rev. Knox, wanting to “shew [show]” his slaves “some mark of my favour,” provided that “Nannette, who has been dry nurse to my son Hugh & house keeper for me since my wife’s death, shall be made free,” but only if she works another 6 years and pays his heirs 25 pieces of eight per year or can get someone to purchase her freedom for 140 pieces of eight." Knox gave his “washer woman” 50 pieces of eight “for her faithfull services,” and gave “to all my other negroes…five pieces of eight to drink to my health after I am dead & to encourage them to cry for the loss of so good a master.”
Comments