Background
He was a son of Alfred Frederick Sierp (ca1865 – 9 August 1945) and his wife Elsie B. Sierp.
He was a son of Alfred Frederick Sierp (ca1865 – 9 August 1945) and his wife Elsie B. Sierp.
He studied at the School of Arts and Crafts and dominated the 1928 Examinations, when he sat for 11 technical drawing subjects, passing with Honours in eight and a Cr in three.
He was generally known as "Allan F. Sierp", perhaps to distinguish him from the Adelaide violinist Allan Sierp L.T.C.L. (Licentiate of Trinity College London), who was active in Adelaide 1920–1940. He worked as a draughtsman in the State public service, then the Education Department, becoming South Australia"s first Inspector of Artist lieutenant was around this time that he wrote the first of what became classic textbooks of technical drawing, and would over the ensuing 30 years go through multiple editions, including new metric editions in 1972.
In 1948 he was a senior master at Adelaide High School.
He was Principal of the South Australian School of Arts 1961–1964, and was in charge of its removal from North Terrace to North Adelaide in 1962. He designed the coat of arms for the City of Prospect in 1934.
He produced volumes of South Australian photographs from the colonial era, followed by similar volumes dealing with New South Wales and Tasmania. He was involved in stage design and set painting for amateur theatricals.
Allan married Catherine Lillias "Kitty" Rowe (1907–2002) on 18 April 1931.