James Allan (Queensland politician)
Australian politician (1856-1938)
James Allan (20 December 1856 – 26 January 1938) was a draper and a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
Early life and business career
Allan was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, to parents Robert Allan and his wife Mary (née Hodge). Receiving his final education at Andersonian University, Allan started his working life as an apprentice draper to Daley & Co. in Glasgow before arriving in Australia in 1879. Here he worked as an assistant for D. L. Brown & Co. and in 1882, along with Robert Stark formed Allan & Stark, drapers.
The business started out at South Brisbane, but by 1895 business had so greatly increased that they moved to Queen Street, in the centre of Brisbane. In 1911 Allan & Stark was formed into a private company with many of its employees having acquired an interest in it. In 1919 it became a public company and later incorporated the Civil Service Stores and also Stuparts Ltd, who were based in Maryborough. Their former Queen Street premises survives and is heritage-listed as the Allan and Stark Building.
The public source identifies “James Allan (Queensland politician)” as australian politician (1856-1938). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Allan and Queensland.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “James Allan (Queensland politician)”, the useful work is to connect “australian politician (1856-1938)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q20712943. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1856, 1938, 1879 and 1882.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “James Allan (Queensland politician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow James Allan (Queensland politician) primary sources, James Allan (Queensland politician) archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Allan (Queensland politician)”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “James Allan (Queensland politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.