David Lindsay Allan was born in Dundee in Scotland on 30 April 1874. He was articled to John Murray Robertson (1844-1901) in Dundee, Scotland from 1890 to 1894 and remained with him as his assistant until 1897. He also attended Dundee Technical Institute. He then worked as an assistant to David Barclay Niven (1864-1942) and Herbert Hardy Wigglesworth (1866-1949) of Niven & Wigglesworth in London from 1897 to 1900 during which time he attended the Royal Academy Schools in London. He then returned to Dundee and was employed as an assistant to Robert Blackadder (1833-1913) as Blackadder & Allan from 1900 to 1903.
Allan commenced independent practice as an architect in Dundee in 1903 and was in partnership with Blackadder from 1903 to 1908, and with Leslie Ower (1851-1916) as Leslie Ower & Allan in Dundee from 1908 to c.1916. By 1926 Allan was working from his home, Fryston Avenue in East Croydon, Surrey [now London]. Allan was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1912. Lindsay died in Croydon on 29 August 1961
Church, villa, tenement, office, &c. work in Dundee and district. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1914]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001