Hugh David Renwich Turnbull Allan, O.Praem. (born 3 August 1976) is a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

canon regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religiou ...

and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

who was the

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Prefecture of the Falkland Islands and

Ecclesiastical Superior In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission (, pl. ), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with explicit boundaries, under the care of a religious communit ...

of the Mission sui iuris of the islands of Ascension, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha from 2016 - 2024.

Biography

Hugh Allan was born in Hertfordshire, England, to a Scottish family from the town of

Auchtermuchty Auchtermuchty ( ; , 'upland of the pigs/boar') is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is beside Pitlour Hill and north of Glenrothes. History Until 1975 Auchtermuchty was a royal burgh, established under charter of James V of Scotland, King Jame ...

, located close to the village of Falkland. Raised as a Free Presbyterian, Allan converted to Catholicism at the age of 16. He trained to be a teacher at

St Mary's University, Twickenham St Mary's University, Twickenham is a public university in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its stated commitment is to the mission of the Catholic Church in higher education. History Originally foun ...

. On leaving university, he joined the

Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines or ‘White Canons'. Following his novitiate, he was sent to complete further studies at

St Benet's Hall, Oxford St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Catholic church, Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed in 2022. The principal building was located at the ...

. He made his solemn profession on 27 October 2001 and was ordained a priest on 22 November 2002 by Bishop Terence Brain. Following ordination, he worked as a full-time school chaplain in North Manchester. In 2004, he was appointed parish priest of

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. In 2006, he was appointed superior of the Norbertine community in Manchester, aged only 29. At the time, he was the youngest Catholic religious superior in the world. In 2008, the Norbertines opened a new Priory in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

and he was appointed superior to this new canonry. At the same time, he was appointed parish priest of Chelmsford and has also recently served as the Area Dean for Mid-Essex. He was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Falkland Islands and Ecclesiastic Superior of St. Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha by Fernando Cardinal Filoni on 26 October 2016 for a period of five years. In recognition of this ecclesiastical appointment, Allan was also elevated to the title of Titular Abbot of Beeleigh by the Abbot General of the Norbertine Order, Thomas Handgrätinger, and by permission and agreement of the owners of Beeleigh Abbey Mr and Mrs Christopher Foyle, in which capacity he was officially installed on 8 December 2016. On 18 July 2024, three years after his mandate was due to end, Fr Tom Thomas was appointed as Allan's successor as Prefect.

References

External links

*https://en.mercopress.com/2016/11/02/prefecture-of-the-falklands-has-new-apostolic-administrator-fr.-hugh-allan *https://m.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-biggest-diocese-you-have-never-heard-of {{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Hugh Living people Converts to Roman Catholicism from Presbyterianism Premonstratensian Order 21st-century English Roman Catholic priests Falkland Islands Roman Catholics 1976 births Alumni of St Benet's Hall, Oxford Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham English people of Scottish descent School chaplains