Name

H.B.W. Allan

Other names

Allan, H.R.W. [mis-reading]

Allan, Henry Blair Watson

Allen, Henry [typographical error]

Culture

Australian | Scottish

Gender

Male

Birth date

26 October 1804

Birth place

Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland View on map Close map

Death date

8 March 1847

Death Place

Allandale, Victoria, Australia View on map Close map

Movements

Australia from 1829

Occupations

Artist | Lithographer

Summary

Worked: Australia (NSW, VIC)

Context

Australia

Address

• 1842?
  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Biography

Henry Blair Watson (H.B.W.) Allan [Allen] (1804-47) was the son of David Allan, disgraced Deputy Commissary General, Sydney,1813-19. David Allan imported a lithographic press on his return to the Colony with his family on the Prince Regent in August 1829. Printers working for H.B.W Allan included Albert Whitehouse and Thomas Buckler, Sydney Gazette, 29 June 1833, page 3, column 4. Within weeks of his arrival he had printed the lithographic portrait of Bungaree and also printed a work by Thomas Mitchell. He worked for the government as lithographer and set up his own business in the early 1830s in Pitt Street. After a brush with the law which implicated his workshop with lithographic forged notes, he seems to have closed his business. He later travelled to the Port Phillip settlement where he and his brothers became early land owners.

Last Updated

16 Mar 2026