Mr. Fleming's connection with some of our most stupendous public works has been the means of making his name known in every corner of the Dominion. Though not a Canadian either by birth or education, he is permanently identified with Canadian enterprise, and his name is distinctly and permanently recorded in our country's annals. He was born at the seaport and market-town of Kirkcaldy, in Fifeshire, Scotland—a distinction which he shares in common with the illustrious author of "The Wealth of Nations." His father was an artisan named Andrew Greig Fleming. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Arnot. The families to which both parents belonged have been settled on the shores of Fife for more than a century, and the names of Fleming and Arnot are common there at the present day. The subject of this sketch was born on the 7th of January, 1827. In his childhood he attended a small private school in Kirkcaldy, and afterwards, when he was about ten years of age, passed to the local grammar-school. He displayed much aptitude for mathematics, and made great progress in that branch of study. When he was still a mere boy he was articled to the business of engineering and surveying, and after serving his time began to look about him for suitable employment. He was fond of his profession, and conscious of his ability. His prospects were not such as to satisfy his ambition, and in 1845 he emigrated to Canada, and took up his abode in the Upper Province. For some years after his arrival in this country his prospects did not seem much more alluring than before. There was comparatively little employment of an important character for a man of Mr. Fleming's attainments in those days, and he made but slow headway. He resided for some time in Toronto, and took an active part in the founding of the Canadian Institute, "for the purpose of promoting the physical sciences, for encouraging and advancing the industrial arts and manufactures, for effecting the formation of a Provincial museum, and for the purpose of facilitating the acquirement and the dissemination of knowledge connected with the surveying, engineering, and architectural professions." Soon afterwards—in 1852—he obtained employment on the engineering staff of the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway, the first section of which (from Toronto to Aurora) was opened to the public on the 16th of May, 1853. Mr. Fleming took a conspicuous part in the work of construction, and in process of time was promoted to the position of Engineer-in-Chief of the line. He remained in the employ of the company (the name of which was changed in 1858 to that which it has ever since borne—the Northern Railway Company) about eleven years. During much of this period he also did a good deal of professional work in connection with the Toronto Esplanade, and other important enterprises. In his professional capacity he visited the Red River country, to examine as to the feasibility of a railway connecting that region with Canada. At the request of the inhabitants there he proceeded to England on their behalf in 1863, as bearer of a memorial from them to the Imperial Government, praying that a line of railway might be constructed which would afford them direct access to Canada, without passing over United States territory. Upon Mr. Fleming's arrival in London he had repeated conferences on the subject with the late Duke of Newcastle, who was then Colonial Secretary. How this project was indefinitely postponed, and was subsequently merged in the greater scheme of a Trans-continental line of railway, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is well known to every reader of these pages. Immediately after Mr. Fleming's return to Canada in 1863 he was appointed by the Governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and subsequently by that of the mother country, to conduct the preliminary survey of a line of railway which should form a connecting link between the Maritime Provinces and the Canadas. The project of constructing such a road, though agitated at various times, did not take a practical shape until the accomplishment of Confederation, when the work of construction was made obligatory upon the Government and Parliament of Canada by the 145th clause of the Act of Union. The whole of this great undertaking was successfully carried out under Mr. Fleming's supervision as Chief Engineer, and the Intercolonial was opened throughout for public traffic on the 1st of July—the natal day of the Dominion—1876. A few weeks later Mr. Fleming published a history of the enterprise, under the title of "The Intercolonial: an Historical Sketch of the inception and construction of the line of railways uniting the inland and Atlantic Provinces of the Dominion."
When British Columbia entered the Dominion, on the 20th of July, 1871, it was agreed that within ten years from that date a line of railway should be constructed from the Pacific Ocean to a point of junction with the existing railway systems in the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Mr. Fleming's services in connection with the Intercolonial Railway marked him out as the most suitable man in the Dominion to prosecute the preliminary surveys of the Canadian Pacific. Accordingly his services were secured by the Government for that purpose, and he was appointed Chief Engineer. In the summer of 1872 he started across the continent on a tour of inspection. He was attended by a capable staff of assistants. Among the latter was the Rev. George M. Grant, the present Principal of Queen's College, Kingston, who accompanied the expedition in the capacity of Secretary. The party left Toronto on the 16th of July, 1872, and travelling by way of Sault Ste. Marie, Nepigon, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Forts Carlton and Edmonton, the Rocky Mountains, Kamloops and Bute Inlet, reached Victoria, B.C., on the 9th of October following. Those who wish to inform themselves as to the literary and social aspects of that momentous journey may consult Mr. Grant's journal, as it appears in the pages of "Ocean to Ocean." Those who wish to know the scientific and more practical results of the expedition can only become acquainted with them through Mr. Fleming's elaborate report.
Mr. Fleming continued to be the Government Engineer until about a year ago, when he resigned his position, owing as it is understood, to some difference of opinion with the Government as to the location of the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. His topographical knowledge of the country is unrivalled, and his professional standing is such as might be expected from the importance of the great public works which he has superintended. In recognition of his talents, and of his services to Canada and the Empire, Her Majesty some time ago conferred upon him the dignity of a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.
In addition to the work on the Intercolonial already mentioned, and to many elaborate and voluminous reports upon the various enterprises wherewith he has been connected, Mr. Fleming has contributed numerous interesting and instructive papers to the Canadian Journal and other scientific periodicals. He has also written many articles on subjects connected with his profession for the daily press. Within the last few months a proposition of his with respect to the establishment of a new prime meridian for the world, 180° from Greenwich, has been approved of by the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, Russia, the secretary whereof recently conveyed information of the fact in a letter addressed to the Governor-General of Canada.
In the autumn of last Year (1880) Mr. Fleming was elected Chancellor of Queen's University, Kingston, and upon his installation delivered a very eloquent inaugural address.
On the 3rd of January, 1855, he married Miss Ann Jean Hall, daughter of the Sheriff of the county of Peterboro'.