The Particulars of Sale in 1873 specified that Bryce Allan the Liverpool shipping magnate should have life rent of the Aros Estate.  He purchased the estate on the 15th May 1874, and paid £98,000. The boundaries of the estate included the western half of Tobermory. Alexander, his son, inherited the estate at the age of 29, his father having died just 2 months after the purchase.  He gave up the shipping business and devoted the rest of his life to running the estate.  Alexander Allan was instrumental in the movement to have Tobermory created a Burgh and was elected as the first Provost of the Burgh, a position he held for 47 years.  He gifted Aros Hall, a two storey building in the main street containing a library, reading and committee rooms and a hall to seat 300, to the town.  He also developed a new and reliable water supply and was responsible through the Town Council for the supply of electricity to the town from a hydro-electric scheme on the Tobermory River.  He proved to be a new type of laird, working hard to gain popularity and respect from the local people.  Allan was supposed to have changed the name of Drumfin House to Aros House – according to Lady Fairfax-Lucy, because he liked the alliteration in the name “Alexander Allan of Aros”. 

Ref www.aros-park.co.uk