By the Author

The Bains, as might be readily deduced, are my father’s family. Their family history, which runs to around 450 pages, covers their story from the late 18th century to the present, and traces my numerous ancestors and their descendants within Scotland, Canada and the United States. Among the various themes that dominate the Bains’ story the most noteworthy is migration. My grandfather, Tom Bain, emigrated to Canada in 1911 from Scotland where, according to DNA research, my ancestors lived for at least two thousand years, from around the time of the Roman invasion of Britain. I have traced the family back to around 1790 when they were living and working as farm servants and agricultural labourers in Muthill. Over the next fifty years, they moved from there to Blackford, then to Culross, and then to Alloa, where they left agricultural employment for manual jobs in such industries as brewing. The Bains’ history of geographical mobility continued in the early years of the 20th century. My great grandfather George Bain and great grandmother Caroline (née Bowie) had seven children, two girls and five boys. Between 1907 and 1911, all but the older girl, plus some other relatives, emigrated in a classic chain migration to Winnipeg, Manitoba, which was then rapidly growing as the gateway to the Canadian West. They were employed mainly in the railway industry, then the largest employer in Western Canada, and became trade-union leaders and socialist/communist politicians. This family history analyses the family’s geographical mobility over a long period by using various theories of migration.

For more information about Prof. Sir George Bain and his family history, visit his website