In May 1902, Allan was instrumental in re-founding the Glasgow branch of the
National Society for Women's Suffrage as the
Glasgow and West of Scotland Association for Women's Suffrage (GWSAWS), and was a member of its executive committee. She was a significant financial supporter, and as one of the GWSAWS vice-presidents she took up a position on the
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) committee in 1903, in order to represent the association following their affiliation. In 1906, Allan was among the audience when
Teresa Billington (who had been arrested and jailed following a protest in London earlier in the year) toured Scotland, although she maintained her subscription to GWSAWS until 1909. Over the following few years, Allan provided at least £350 (approximately ) in funds to the WSPU, While in prison Allan used her privileged position to improve the levels of comfort for her inmates, including distributing confectionery and fruit to fellow suffragettes. Two months into her sentence, she barricaded the door to her cell, and it reportedly took three men with tools around three quarters of an hour to break into the room. In a later letter to a friend, Allan herself stated that "I did not resist at all ... yet the effect on my health was most disastrous. I am a very strong woman and absolutely sound in heart and lungs, but it was not till 5 months after, that I was able to take any exercise or begin to feel in my usual health again – the nerves of my heart were affected and I was fit for nothing in the way of exertion ... There can be no doubt that it simply ruins the health." In February 1914, forcible feeding was implemented in Scotland during
Ethel Moorhead's imprisonment for violently resisting arrest after being spotted behaving suspiciously in the vicinity of
Traquair House. Allan was a key part of the campaign against this action, and as well as publicly protesting met with the Medical Prison Commissioner, Dr James Devon, to advocate against the use of a method that she regarded as likely to "injure permanently a woman's health." In June that year, Allan wrote to prison authorities that the burning of Whitekirk Parish Church near
Edinburgh was due to the treatment of Moorhead and if other suffragettes in Perth,
Arabella Scott and the woman known as 'Frances Gordon' were force fed, threatened the upcoming royal visit to Scotland could see 'disastrous' protests.
Taxation protests Allan was taken to court again in 1913. In addition to direct suffragette action, she was involved with and supported the
Women's Tax Resistance League, which argued that as women could not vote and therefore were not represented in parliament, they should not be subject to taxation. These beliefs led to her refusal to pay
super tax on her income and investments for the financial year ending April 1912.
The St. Andrew's Halls incident By early 1914, Allan had become one of the principal organisers for the WSPU in western Scotland, based in Glasgow. On 9 March 1914, Emmeline Pankhurst, the WSPU national leader, was to address a public meeting at St Andrew's Halls in the city, and Allan was in attendance.
Ethel Moorhead said Allan had a presence due to her height, beauty and quietness. Glasgow police decided to use the occasion of the public address to effect the arrest. However, the WSPU activists anticipated their action and increased security coverage for their leader, including enforcing strict secrecy surrounding her movements and erecting a concealed barbed wire barrier across the front of the stage. A short time into Pankhurst's speech, around 160 police officers stormed the hall and began to move toward the stage. They were met by a barrage of thrown chairs and plant pots, and soon fights broke out between the police and members of the audience. During the commotion, one of the women present drew a revolver and fired several blank cartridges toward the ceiling. The police attempted to apprehend her, but she managed to slip their grasp and escape. Despite not being positively identified at the time, many since have stated that Allan was the woman with the revolver. She tried in vain for six months afterwards to get a public enquiry into police behaviour. ==Later life==