The Haileybury society is saddened to learn of the death of Adrian Reginald Allan (C 56) who has died at the age of 79 on 21st June 2022.

After Haileybury, Adrian studied Modern History at Durham before moving to Liverpool where he gained his postgraduate Diploma in the Study of Records and the Administration of Archives at Liverpool in 1965. Following a stint of several years at the West Suffolk Record Office, he returned to Liverpool in 1970 where he joined the staff of the University as Assistant Archivist.

Well-known author

In 1994, he became University Archivist, a post he held until his retirement in 2008. He was to write a series of books on a number of different topics including : Rankin Hall, 1922-1972 (1972); The Building of Abercromby Square (1986); University Bodies – A Survey of Inter- and Supra-University Bodies and their Records (1990) and, with Ann L Mackenzie, editor of E Allison Peers’ Redbrick University Revisited: the Autobiography of Bruce Truscot (1994). He was also honoured by degrees for A Century of Graduates of the University of Liverpool (2004), and A History of the Convocation of the University of Liverpool (2012).

A man with a passion

Adrian contributed to university life in a way much broader than his remit suggested. This included editing the conference proceedings of Liverpool’s Business Archives Council, and assisting the Records Manager at Durham University, the university where he studied as an undergraduate.

These interests continued well into his retirement, with many voluntary projects in Durham and Cumbria including work as Trustee and Society Archivist for the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, helping the Cumbria Local History Federation develop archive-related bids for public funding, and serving as a Trustee of the Friends of Cumbria Archives.

Beyond retirement

Even after his retirement, and despite travelling long distances from his home town of Carlisle, Adrian continued at Liverpool University on a commission to write Greenbank House and the University of Liverpool: a History (2022), a definitive history of the building published to coincide with the building’s refurbishment.

Scholarships

His passion for his subject was such that, in memory of his parents, he established the Eleanor and Reginald Allan Scholarship, awarded for outstanding professionalism by a postgraduate archives student; he also set up the Arnold Hindhaugh Scholarship at Haileybury in memory of his uncle. He also counted amongst his friends the late Emeritus Professor Dr Herbert Burchnall, OBE (E 33), Liverpool University’s Registrar whose death aged 101 in 2020 we covered in our pages.

Adrian’s funeral was held on Tuesday July 19th at 11.30am at St Marys Church Wreay, near Carlisle. The Haileybury Society extends its deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to Adrian’s family and friends, in particular his sister Rosemary.

We are grateful to the University of Liverpool for some of the information and the photograph contained in this article