We bear the very sad news that Professor Angus Bancroft an esteemed member of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh an early associate of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships died on Monday 20th July.  When CRFR was set up in 2001 with a major research development grant from the then Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, Angus was absolutely key to its establishment and success.   

The founding co-directors, Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Kathryn Backett, Fran Wasoff and Lynn Jamieson all have fond memories of the role he played. Angus joined CRFR on a three-year lectureship with the unenviable task of covering some of the teaching commitments of the then CRFR co-directors.  This meant working across different Schools and subject areas and covering quite a diverse range of subject matter – family sociology and the sociology of health and illness in particular.  always took a student-centred approach to his learning and teaching, and dealt with the challenges of working across departmental boundaries with great equanimity.    

While at CRFR, Angus also conducted a significant research project, with colleagues Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Kathryn Backett-Milburn and Hugh Masters on ‘Surviving Parental Drug and Alcohol Misuse’, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.  This laid the foundation of his career long commitment to investigating and understanding the diverse dimensions of addiction, drug use and harm reduction.  He was a truly empathetic researcher, teacher and colleague.