Article (newspaper)  (Dec 2009)  Page(s) 3.  Includes photo(s).
 
Patricia Routley: That gracious old lady I met in 1998 has left me a wonderful legacy . Sheila Gravett died in the winter of 2009 at the age of 101 but she has left me the most fragrant roses in my garden and every time I smell them, I look upwards and say ‘thank you’. The superb ‘General McArthur’ (Karri Pigeon February, 2009) was one of these. ‘Dr. Hogg’ (Karri Pigeon July 2008) was another. A third rose was a pink hybrid tea Mrs. Bryce Allan. Sheila thought so highly of this rose that she had struck it and there were six bushes of it in her garden. ‘Mrs. Bryce Allan’ was bred by Alexander Dickson in 1916. It is an old-fashioned deep rose-pink, hybrid tea with many petals. They are neatly arranged in perfect symmetry, each centre petal folded in half and arising from the rim on a slightly outward angle, so forming at first, a hollow in the centre. As the flower ages the outer petals curve over in camellia fashion, framing the pleated center petals. It is a neat and tidy flower and the carriage of the flower is upright with no drooping. It was said to have an exquisite damask perfume, but at 8am recently, Judy Daubney, Phil Singleton and both Rob and I were unable to detect any strong perfume. It was the magnificent fragrance which made ‘Mrs. Bryce Allan’ one of the great Roses of its period and so I am presuming ‘Mrs. Bryce Allan’ only deigns to waft her perfume when it suits her. The lady, Hilda Mary Allan was the first wife of Colonel Bryce Allan, O.B.E. from Scotland. Back in 1998, a member of Heritage Roses in Australia, Mrs. Noelene Drage, came down from Perth when I told her just what beauties were in Sheila’s garden. June Keil, Susan Ronk, Noelene and I all took cuttings that day and later we picnic’d in the heat on the river bank, making a memorable day. Most of our cuttings struck and I now hear of the beauty of ‘Mrs. Bryce Allan’ in the occasional Perth garden. My bush on its own roots is about a metre high with orbicular leaves and today has three upright canes with the normal supply of thorns. It does not have too many blooms but I had to move it from an inhospitable spot in 2005 and it is only now starting to do well - one of two references do say it had a reputation for being a little stingy with its blooms. I get enough, and even if I only saw six blooms a year, I would be grateful. ‘Mrs. Bryce Allan’ has an almost complete indifference to rain, which makes it a rose perfect for Northcliffe. So – we have good looks and sometimes, an exquisite perfume as well. It is one of my desert island roses. But the main reason why I love it, is that Sheila loved it too. That intimate association with gardeners of the past is sometimes a compelling reason to grow old roses.

Magazine  (1992)  Page(s) 25. Vol 14, No. 3.  
 
Dr. A. S. Thomas recalls: Mrs. Bryce Allen (H.T. Dickson 1916) A beautiful mid-pink. I won the award for best bloom in the R. S. V. Show with this in the spring of 1941.

Book  (1983)  Page(s) 51.  
 
Dr. A. S. Thomas: Mrs. Bryce Allan HT (Alex Dickson, 1916). another late arrival, possibly because we already had a lot of fine mid-pink roses.

Book  (1962)  Page(s) 47.  
 
Mr. R. T. Hamilton, Heidelberg, Vic.: Now to mention a few roses which are outstanding for perfume, some of them new, and some old. First is the old pink variety, Mrs. Bryce Allan; no rose could be sweeter.

Book  (1960)  Page(s) 18.  
 
Dr. A. S. Thomas:  'June Park'.... in colouring resembling 'Dame Edith Helen', 'Ballett' and 'Mrs. Bryce Allan'.  

Website/Catalog  (1958)  Page(s) 19.  
 
Mrs. Bryce Allan. H.T. (A. Dickson & Sons, 1916). Fragrant. Moderately tall. Silvery rose of splendid shape. The flowers are full, and possess the loveliest of damask perfumes, but open rather flat. it is a good grower and very free blooming with excellent foliage.

Book  (1956)  Page(s) 103.  
 
Mrs. Bryce Allan. Dickson 1916. Large rose-pink of perfect form; full and very fragrant; free-flowering and a good grower.

Book  (1952)  Page(s) 93.  
 
C. A. Brown.  Know Your Roses. 
For example, Una Wallace has long stems, sparse foliage, and few thorns, which distinguish it from Editor McFarland, and very little perfume, which distinguishes it from Mrs. Bryce Allan and Patrick Anderson. All of these are deep pinks.

Book  (1951)  Page(s) 71.  
 
Editor (R. T. Hamilton). The Relative Gravity of Common Faults in Exhibition Roses
Mrs. Bryce Allen and Vierlanden are pink roses which, at their best, are very beautiful.  Sometimes the pink in them is streaky and dull and the blooms fall short of the ideal. 

Book  (1950)  
 
p38 Mrs. Bryce Allan, HT (A. Dickson, 1916) Exhibition and garden rose. Strongly perfumed. One of the best of roses. Average height.

p261. The damask perfume is represented today by such roses as ....and Mrs. Bryce Allan