Bain Doug

 

Douglas Bain

Born on October 28th 1939, Bain grew up in Shetland and in his teens kept an extensive diary, which is now in the Shetland archives and is a valuable record of Shetland life in the 1950s. He maintained his connections with the islands, where members of his immediate family continued to live. Aly Bain, the renowned fiddle-player, is his brother. His sister, Anne, works as a principal psychologist in Shetland.

Doug Bain was active at peace demonstrations, particularly at Aldermaston and at the Holy Loch, and joined the Labour Party member when he first moved to Glasgow. Having graduated in psychology from Aberdeen University in 1962 and, following the 1962 Woodside by-election he, along with two friends, joined the Communist Party of Great Britain, in which he remained loyal until its 1991 demise.

For two periods he worked for the Party in a full-time capacity, initially with the Scottish Young Communist League. Later, he was the party’s Glasgow secretary at a time when the “Eurocommunist” trend was becoming ascendant. Leaving this work by the late 1980s, he heavily involved in a 1988 event held under the title of `What’s Left’. This brought together participants from all perspectives, including some Conservatives.

After his full-time political work came to an end, he returned to work in Glasgow City Council’s psychological service, where he continued to work on a part-time basis up until his death. Arising from this career, he was best known for his contribution to the establishment of the Castlemilk Joint Education and Social Work Project.

In 1964, he married Ouaine Robertson and they had two daughters, Jenny and Chris; later they divorced. He had a son with a new partner, Linda Robb, in the late 1980s.  He died of a sudden heart attack on September 7th 2010, aged 70.

Source dated 10th September 2010