| Notes |
- No record has been found of Allan's birth. His date of birth shown here comes from unverified online sources. It seems likely that it was extrapolated from his given age at death, but that could be off by a couple of years. Biographies of his son, The Hon. Sir Allan Napier MacNab of Dundurn Castle, show Lt. Allan MacNab as being born in England and say only that he was descended from the MacNabs of Dundurn, Perthshire. Some give his father's name as Robert. As Robert MacNab was 2nd of Dundurn then there isn't much margin for error here so we can be confident that Robert MacNab, 2nd of Dundurn, was Allan's father.
In a letter from Dr. John Stewart, younger of Ardvorlich, in 1780, to his brother, William Stewart, 8th of Ardvorlich, uncles to Allan MacNab, he writes, "I hope my brother, Mr. McNab, and sister are well. I shall write you and him long letters next week when I hope my mind will be a little more at ease. I send with this a letter from Allan, who is really a promising boy." The letter was written at London, England, 24 October 1780. (Stewart, John, of Ardvorlich, The Stewarts of Ardvorlich, Vol. 2., p. 35.) However, in a later letter from William to John, William says, "I forgot whether I mentioned their names to you or not. Archy and Annie, you knew. The other three, I think, were born after you left the country. They are, Elizabeth, born in '79, James in 1780, and Margaret born in Jany 1784. about six weeks or two months before his ['Robert's] death." There is no mention of Allan.
The Comrie OPR shows the marriage of Robert MacNab, 2nd of Dundurn, to Jean Stewart of Ardvorlich and shows the baptisms of their six younger childrenm. but there is no birth registration for Allan. If Allan's year of birth is correct then he was born three years prior to the marriage of his parents. No record of any previous marriage has been found so it would appear that Allan may have been illegitimate. Burke's Landed Gentry (LG19 I:951) gives Allan's mother as "Mary Stuart" with no further information on her. Some unverified on-line genealogies show Mary Stuart as a descendant of the Stuarts of Ardgowan, but we have found no evidence to support this claim. ElectricScotland shows Allan McNab's mother as Jean Stewart of Ardvorlich, but gives no evidence to support its claim either.
Allan MacNab was a Lieutenant and served in the 3rd Dragoons, the 71st Highland Light Infantry, and the (Loyalist) Queen's Rangers. Allan immigrated to Newark, Ontario, Canada (then the capital of the province of Upper Canada and presently known as Niagara-on-the-Lake) where he served as the principal aide-de-camp to General Simcoe, 1st Governor of Upper Canada, and commander of the Queen's Rangers. Just prior to 1812, Simcoe disbanded the Queen's Rangers and moved his capital from Newark to "Muddy" York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto, Ontario, Canada). The MacNab family moved with Simcoe to York.
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says the following about Allan MacNab:
Allan Napier MacNab’s father had been a lieutenant in John Graves Simcoe’s 2nd corps of Queen’s Rangers which saw action in the American revolution. Put on half pay, he settled in York (Toronto) where he was denied further military preferment and a high civil placement. A sometimes bankrupt Allan MacNab struggled on the fringe of Upper Canada’s Tory society.
Marion MacRae's MacNab of Dundurn (1971), says "John, fifteenth Chief of MacNab, supported the House of Hanover, but an old Clan history states that many MacNabs fought for Prince Charles Edward under the leadership of cadet cheiftains, one of whom was Allan MacNab of Dundurn. The same history records that at this time, one of the MacNab ladies of Kinnell, that is of the chielfly family -- married MacNab of Dundurn."
MacRae later states that this Allan MacNab was the father of Capt. Robert MacNab of Dundurn, who "was writing letters to Colonel Archibald MacNab, brother of John, fifteenth Chief, whom he addressed as his uncle, and informing him that he had sent money to "the boy" in Canada. This Allan is "the boy."
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1768 - 1830 (62 years)
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