James L. Hempstead 1917 - 2011

James L Hempstead, or Jimmy as he was known to all, died on 30^th August 2011. He was born on Christmas Eve 1917 in Hartfield Gardens, Dumbarton and attended Dumbarton Academy Primary School followed by the Academy where his strengths lay in English and art.

Jimmy was involved in various organisations in the town; he joined the 1^st Dumbarton Boy Scouts where he became a founder member of the pipe band and went on to be scoutmaster for a short time. He was a founder member of Dumbarton Toastmasters’ Club where he learned the art of public speaking which he was to put to good use in later years in Dumbarton Burns Club. He was a member of Dumbarton Golf Club then Cardross Golf Club. He was a member of Dumbarton Bowling Club, writing the history of the club and becoming the president of the club in 1982. He was made an honorary life member in recognition of his services to the club.

Jimmy’s greatest love was Effie Brown whom he married in 1949 and in due course they had three children, David, Morag and Ian. Effie died in 2005.

Jimmy’s other great love was our national bard, Robert Burns. Jimmy joined Dumbarton Burns Club in 1958, became president in 1971 and served on committee in various positions from 1967 until 1989, principally as secretary from 1978 until 1989. During his tenure as secretary he started the club Newsletter and edited it for 18 years. He organised two exhibitions in Dumbarton Library, one in 1987 to commemorate the bicentenary of Burns’ visit to the town when he was made a Freeman, and the other in 1996 to commemorate the bicentenary of the bard’s death. In 1992 he gifted his full set of Burns Chronicles to the club and then in 2003 donated his collection of Burns related slides covering all the known haunts of the bard. In recognition of his outstanding services to the club he was made honorary president in 1991.

Jimmy was recognised as an authority on Burns and loved performing the bard’s works. He first performed in 1960 and continued to do so for over 30 years. He entertained the club first with the bard’s works and then with his own compositions. In addition to his solo spots, he and the late Bill Hendry regularly performed a double act with poems such as The Twa Dogs and Death and Dr Hornbook.

Jimmy was a prolific writer and versifier. He produced Rhyme for Fun (1992), Robert Burns and Dumbartonshire (1996), History of Dumbarton Burns Club co-authored with Michael C. Taylor (2004) and Rag Bag of Rhyme (2009). His encyclopaedic knowledge of the bard enabled him to write dozens of scholarly articles for the Burns Chronicle and in 1994 his reputation as a Burns scholar was recognised by the Robert Burns World Federation when has was made an Honorary President.

In later life Jimmy suffered from lower body Parkinson’s and while this very much limited his physical abilities, his creative mind continued to produce articles and poems for a number of years, culminating in Robert Burns : Cronies, Colleagues and Contemporaries (2008). This treatise on the people who surrounded Burns during his life is the product of extensive research and is written with his customary accuracy and passion.

Moir Nelson, Honorary Secretary, Dumbarton Burns Club