Cover image for Cecil Allport
Agency:
Cecil Allport
Agency Number:
Start Date:
01 Jan 1858
End Date:
31 Dec 1926
Description:
Morton John Cecil Allport (usually known as Cecil), (1858-1926), was only 19 when his father died suddenly in 1878, leaving him responsible for the family. His grandfather, Joseph Allport, had died one year earlier. For the next twenty years Cecil worked hard at his career as a lawyer, while coping with family crises and managing the family investments. ;;Cecil Allport was admitted to the Bar in 1881, and became senior partner in Dobson, Mitchell & Allport and a director of several prominent Tasmanian companies. Around 1900, some shrewd investments gave him the means to indulge his interest in Tasmanian history and collect rare books on exploration and Australian history as well as pictures by Tasmanian colonial artists. He treasured Australian paintings, books and manuscripts, and built up an impressive collection, which became the nucleus of the family library.;;Upon Cecil's death in 1926, his sole surviving son, Henry Allport, inherited the collection. Henry filled his house in Sandy Bay, Cedar Court, with English and European decorative arts, as well as building on his father's collection of rare books and Tasmanian art. Upon Henry's death in 1965, Henry Allport bequeathed the entire collection to the people of Tasmania as a memorial to the Allport family.;;
Information Sources:
Who were the Allports? Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts webpage, viewed 15 February, 2019. Allport, Morton John Cecil (1858-1926). Australian Dictionary of Biography, viewed online 15 February, 2019.;;
Series Created By Agency:
ALL12 Tasmanian History Notes11 Jun 182131 Dec 1933

ALL10 Business Papers21 Apr 182720 Jan 1910

ALL13 Family Letterbooks01 Oct 187526 Jun 1925

ALL11 Personal Correspondence04 Jul 190331 Jan 1924

ALL31 Benjamin Berthon File08 Feb 192415 Feb 1924