Alan Colman

Alan studied mechanics at Cambridge University and soon after his graduation he returned to Norwich to take up a role in the family business at Carrow Works. He continued to provide  much-needed support and creative contributions to the business until  tuberculosis prevented him from further work. The illness, which he contracted in his early twenties, advanced to such a degree that his family decided to take him to Egypt to try to prolong his life.

In November 1896 Alan travelled to Cairo in the company of his sisters Helen and Laura, and his brother-in-law James Stuart. They were joined in January 1897 by his father Jeremiah James and sisters Ethel and Florence. The family journeyed to Luxor on board a sailing boat (or dahabiya) named Hathor. Alan died at Luxor on 7 February 1897, still accompanied by almost all of his closest family.

The same trip to Egypt enabled Jeremiah James to amass an impressive collection of Egyptian artefacts, later donated by Ethel and Helen to Norwich Castle Museum. The two sisters also commissioned a replica of the Hathor - the Egyptian dahabiya on which Alan spent his last days. The boat is still in use today along the Norfolk Broads.