Philanthropist. Born on a farm in Pollokshaws, then a separate community to the S of Glasgow, Glen moved into Glasgow in the early years of the 19th Century becoming a Master Wright and Burgess of the City. He was successful in business and invested well in property, accumulating a sizeable fortune.
He died at Gourock and was buried in the Southern Necropolis (Glasgow). Throughout his life he had shown concern for those less fortunate than himself and he left the greater part of his fortune, around £21,000, to build a technical school for destitute children, which was named Allan Glen's School. The school opened in 1853 and eventually closed in 1989.