Local government official
Born: December 29, 1926;
Died: May 1, 2018
DOUGLAS Hemmings, who has died aged 91, was not, by birth, an “Honest Man of Ayr”, but, in over 80 years, prior to his death following a short illness, he made a significant contribution to life in the town and in one of Ayrshire's administrative districts.
He was a Leeds “tyke” born there in 1926, the only son of chef Fred Hemmings, and his wife Hilda. The Hemmings family arrived in Ayr in 1934, when Fred was appointed head vhef at Ayr's Station Hotel. Young Douglas did well at Newtonhead Primary School, and after passing his “Qualifying”, he transferred to Ayr Academy, where he shone on the rugby field, earning his “colours”, the distinctive white braid round the edges of his maroon blazer, by playing in the XV over three years from 1943 to 1945.
He also played Ayr's other great winter game – ice hockey, at junior level then for the town's famous senior ice hockey team, Ayr Raiders.
On leaving school, he was immediately called up, in October, 1945, and on completion of his basic training he was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps and sent to Austria, where he was responsible for security on a 50-mile stretch of the Austrian-Yugoslavian border.
His office was in the little Austrian town of Arnfels, where he met and fell in love with local girl Luise. They were married in Leibnitz in February, 1948, and the couple recently celebrated their platinum anniversary.
Douglas had followed his father into the service of the Railway Hotels Executive and on demob he joined the central management team, based at the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh. From there he transferred to the Central Hotel in Glasgow, then, in 1950, he returned to Ayrshire, joining the management team at Turnberry Hotel – now Trump Turnberry.
In 1952, Mr Hemmings left the hotel industry for local government, obtaining a junior administrative post with Ayr County Council, based in the county buildings in Ayr. Then, in 1974, with Ayr County Council being wound up and absorbed into Strathclyde Region, Douglas, by now chief administrative officer in the county clerk's office, was appointed as the first chief executive of the newly-formed Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council, based at Lugar Works, near Cumnock.
For the next 17 years, until his retirement in 1991, Mr Hemmings ran C&DVDC. His sterling service saw him made OBE in 1988 and, when he finally retired, he was rewarded with the Freedom of the District, a rarely-awarded honour.
When Strathclyde Region was dissolved, Mr Hemmings was involved in an unsuccessful fight to restore Ayr County Council as the big two political parties, Conservative and Labour, ignored a campaign which had solid support across Ayrshire.
In retirement, he was asked by Ayrshire's former Lord Lieutenant, Sir Bryce Knox, to serve as a trustee of the Burns Monument Trust in Alloway. He served in this capacity for 17 years, while he served for 25 years as president of the National Burns Memorial Homes Trust in Mauchline.
As a young man he spent eight years playing for Ayr Rugby Club, when they were an ambitious junior club, and he relished seeing the progress the club had made in recent years. He also indulged in speed skating as a young man, while his interest in ice sports continued through curling – he was a past president of Ayr Curling Club.
He bowled, loved his garden, while he, Luise, who survives him and children Douglas Junior and Louisa enjoyed regular visits to their Austrian relatives. He is also survived by three grand-daughters, Jennifer, Joanne and Nicole.
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