Mea Allan Explained

Mea Allan
Birth Name:Mary Eleanor Allan
Birth Date:23 June 1909
Birth Place:Bearsden
Death Date:29 August 1982
Death Place:Walberswick, Suffolk
Nationality:British
Occupation:Writer, journalist, biographer

Mea Allan (23 June 1909 – 29 August 1982), born Mary Eleanor Allan, was a journalist who worked for the Glasgow Herald. She also wrote a novel, Change of Heart (1943), set in the future. In 1967 she was awarded the Leverhulme Research Scholarship to write about the botanists William Hooker and Joseph Dalton Hooker.

Early life and education

Allan was born in Bearsden, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, the daughter of Robert Greenoak Allan and Helen (née Maitland). She was educated at Park School, Glasgow, and the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art.[1]

Career

Journalism

Allan was a journalist, the first woman war correspondent to be permanently accredited to the British Forces and the first woman new editor in Fleet Street.[2] She worked for the Glasgow Herald during and after World War II. She was living in London in 1940, where she described the wartime tension as "You felt you really were walking with death—death in front of you and death hovering in the skies."[3] She reported from Germany in 1945, about death camp survivors and displaced persons temporarily sheltered at Belsen after the war, awaiting rehabilitation, family reunification, and transportation.[4]

Other writing

Allan's first book was a novel, Lonely (1942). Her second novel, Change of Heart, written in 1943, is about an alternate history (then future) in which the Allies win World War II, but are threatened by a resurgent Nazism.[5]

Much of Allan's writing was about botany, including histories of gardens,[6] biographies of famous gardeners and plant collectors,[7] [8] [9] and guides for gardeners.[10] In 1967 she was awarded the Leverhulme Research Scholarship to write on the botanists William Hooker and Joseph Dalton Hooker.[11] In 1977 she wrote a book about Darwin's use of flowers to develop his theory of natural selection.[12] [13]

Death and legacy

Allan died in 1982, in Walberswick, Suffolk, England.[14] A collection of her papers was donated to the Centre for the Conservation of Historic Parks and Gardens at York University. There are other papers of hers in the Imperial War Museum's Department of Documents.[15] In 1999, Felicity Goodall wrote a BBC Radio program titled "Change of Heart," about Allan's life and career.[16]

Select Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Reginald. R.. Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature Vol 2. Burgess. Mary A.. Menville. Douglas. 2010-09-01. Wildside Press LLC. 978-0-941028-78-3. en.
  2. Web site: Sirens of Fleet Street, Episode 2: Change of Heart. RadioTimes. en-GB. 2022-11-30.
  3. Book: Stansky. Peter. The First Day of the Blitz: September 7, 1940. Stansky. Professor Peter. 2007. Yale University Press. 978-0-300-12556-6. 28. en.
  4. News: Allan. Mea. Story of the New Belsen that was Crude Cruelty. 20 September 1945. The Daily Telegraph. 7 March 2020. 10. Trove.
  5. Web site: Mea Allan. 10 August 2018. SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
  6. News: Senior. Derek. George Seddon Gardens. 1980-05-24. The Guardian. 2020-03-07. 15. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: Rouse. Parke Jr.. Gloucester Had Connections with World's First Public Museum. 1980-11-02. Daily Press. 2020-03-07. 41. Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Nicolson. Nigel. Exotic Gardeners. 1984-03-01. The Guardian. 2020-03-07. 12.
  9. News: Perry. Frances. Cultivating the Mind. 1982-11-14. The Observer. 2020-03-07. 27.
  10. News: Books. 1981-06-06. The Post-Crescent. 2020-03-07. 32. Newspapers.com.
  11. Thomas. G.S.. 1967. Orangeries in the National Trust. Quarterly Newsletter (Garden History Society). 4. Spring 1967. 25–27. 10.2307/1586183. 1586132.
  12. Beddall. Barbara G.. 1979-03-01. Darwin and His Flowers: The Key to Natural Selection. Mea Allan. Isis. 70. 1. 179. 10.1086/352185. 0021-1753.
  13. Ashby. Eric. 2 June 1977. Review of Darwin and His Flowers. New Scientist. 544.
  14. Book: Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturalists : including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers. 1994. Taylor & Francis. 0850668433. Desmond. Ray. [Rev. and updated ed.].. London. 10.
  15. Book: Mary Eleanor Allan, correspondence and papers. 1939–49. Imperial War Museum Department of Documents.
  16. Web site: BBC Radio 4 Extra - Sirens of Fleet Street, Change of Heart. BBC. en-GB. 2020-03-07.
  17. News: New Novels. 16 January 1943. The Herald. 7 March 2020. 10. Trove.
  18. Book: Allan, Mea. Change of Heart. 1943. George G. Harrap & Company Limited. en.
  19. Book: Allan, Mea. Rose Cottage. 1961. Ward, Lock. en.
  20. Book: Allan, Mea. The Tradescants: Their Plants, Gardens and Museum, 1570-1662. 1964. M. Joseph. en.
  21. L.. K.. 1970. Review of The Hookers of Kew by Mea Allan. Quarterly Newsletter (Garden History Society). 12. Spring 1970. 21–23. 1586132.
  22. Book: Allan, Mea. The Hookers of Kew, 1785-1911. 1967. Joseph. en.
  23. Book: Allan, Mea. Tom's Weeds: The Story of Rochford's and Their House Plants. 1970. Faber. 978-0-571-08919-2. en.
  24. Book: Allan, Mea. Palgrave of Arabia: the life of William Gifford Palgrave, 1826-88. 1972-03-30. Macmillan. 9780333032039. en.
  25. News: Parsons. Susan. The Secret Fantasy of Everyone Who Deals with Plants. 12 August 1984. The Canberra Times. 7 March 2020. 6. Trove.
  26. Book: Allan, Mea. Plants that Changed Our Gardens. 1974. North Pomfret, Vt. : David and Charles. 9780715367216. en.
  27. Book: Allan, Mea. Gardens of East Anglia. 1975. East of England Tourist Board. 978-0-9503116-7-8. en.
  28. Book: Allan, Mea. Darwin and His Flowers: The Key to Natural Selection. 1977. Taplinger Publishing Company. 978-0-8008-2113-5. en.
  29. Book: Allan, Mea. The Gardener's Book of Weeds. 1978. Macdonald and Jane's. 978-0-354-04189-8. en.
  30. Book: Allan, Mea. Weeds: the unbidden guests in our gardens. 1978-06-30. Viking Press. 9780670756575. en.
  31. Book: Allan, Mea.. William Robinson, 1838-1935 : father of the English flower garden. 1982. Faber and Faber. 0-571-11865-8. London. 9327471.

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