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Fleming, Sandford, C. E,
C.M.G., LL.D, Halifax, the most prominent and
original of Canadian engineers, was born at
Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, Scotland, on the 7th January, 1827. [Jessie
Newlands wrote in saying he was born on a farm (owned by his parents)
called "Haughmill" - it is in or near to the village of Windygates in
Fife.
My father's forebears bought
it after the Flemings gave it up!] He was a son of
Andrew Greig Fleming, who possessed much mechanical skill, and Elizabeth
Arnold. Young Fleming attended school in his native place,
and he excelled always in mathematics. For
this branch he is said when a lad to have had an inclination amounting
almost to a passion. He left school at the age of fourteen, and was
immediately articled as a student of surveying and engineering. He applied
himself to his work with a diligence and a zeal that might be taken
as an earnest of the achievements that the future reserved for him. At the
age of eighteen, fairly versed in the theoretical principles of
engineering and survey, he set out for Canada, where he was resolved to
seek his fortune. He was obliged, however, to: wait a long and weary
period before any recognition was given to his ability. During this
period he buoyed himself with "proud patience" and did whatever his hands
found to do. He had taken up his residence in Toronto, and during the
"dark days" associated himself with the Mechanics’ Institute, and in 1849
initiated and took a prominent part in originating and setting afloat the
Canadian Institute, a body which has always, more or less unaided by the
public, striven for the promotion of scientific knowledge and interests.
However, some eyes that could see had observed young Fleming; and in 1852
he was appointed one of the engineering staff of the Northern Railway,
then known as the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Road. He had no sooner
obtained, the opportunity, than his dogged perseverance and engineering
abilities began to reveal themselves; and old beads perceived in the young
roan an "original," a "genius if ever
there was one," in his profession. His capacity once known, his promotion
was rapid, for this was the pioneering period of engineering in Canada,
and those needed were men who could lead. Very soon, therefore, the young
engineer found offers for his service, and a greater number than he could
accept. In 1863 the inhabitants of Red River were desirous of having
railroad communication with Canada, and to this end sought the
intervention of the Imperial government. The man chosen to carry their
case to England was Sandford Fleming. The Duke of Newcastle was then
colonial secretary, and with him Mr Fleming had several interviews; but,
in spite of the strength of his arguments, the project was allowed to
stand for the time. Upon his return from England, political events pointed
to the need for an Intercolonial railway. It was decided that a survey
should be made by a commission of three engineers, to be appointed by old
Canada, the Maritime provinces, and the Imperial government respectively.
Canada nominated Mr. Fleming, and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick accepted
him as their representative. The imperial government did the same, and
Fleming was appointed sole engineer. Upon the completion of the political
union, the provinces tied by legislative bonds demanded to be united with
links of steel. The enterprise was put in the hands of Fleming, as his
opinions upon all subjects bearing upon railroads, as well as his
engineering skill, were held now in the highest regard. The result was a
triumph of engineering. When, under the bond with British Columbia, Canada
bound herself to construct within ten years an iron road from ocean to
ocean, through the dismal and difficult region north of Lake Superior,
across the plains, over the stupendous Rocky Mountains, every eye was
turned upon Sandford Fleming as the man to under-take so gigantic a
project. Consequently, in 1871, in the height of construction of the
Intercolonial, and. with the whole supervision of it pressing upon him, he
was called on by the government to undertake an examination of the
proposed route to the Pacific. When extensive surveys over half a
continent had been made, and the construction of the C. P. R. was well
advanced along six or eight hundred miles of some of the heaviest
sections, political exigencies arose, and in 1880 he resigned. News of his
resignation startled the country, and though he was not thereafter
concerned in the construction of the work, no one has ever denied him
supremacy in his profession; no one has sought to take away from him the
reputation of the pioneer engineer of Canada, and the country’s
benefactor. On his retirement in 1880 he was elected Chancellor of Queen’s
University, and in 1883 he was unanimously re-elected. In 1882, he was
presented with the freedom of the Kirkcaldy Burghs, and in 1884 received
the honorary degree of LL.D from St. Andrew's University. In 1881, he went
as delegate from the Canadian Institute and American Meteorological
Society to the International Geographical Congress at Venice and in 1884
he was appointed delegate of Great Britain to represent the Dominion at
the International Prime Meridian Conference at Washington, where he had
the pleasure of finding the views, which he had been pressing on the
public for years with regard to cosmic time and a prime meridian for all
nations, accepted by the representatives of the civilized world. Mr.
Fleming has been a contributor to the periodical and permanent literature
of the country, and his writings have been characterized by the
originality, the information and the breadth of view that might be
expected from such a man. He has published
reports of his engineering enterprises, and written on various matters,
such as cosmic or universal time and a prime meridian for all nations, as
well as upon subjects kindred to railroads. His latest literary production
is his book "England and Canada", a work that will live in our literature.
Fleming also designed the first Canadian postage stamp, issued in 1851, it
cost three pennies and depicted the beaver, now the national animal of
Canada. Fleming's contribution to the adoption of the present system of
time zones earned him the title of "Father of Standard Time."
Mr. Fleming married, in 1855, Anne Jean
Hall, a daughter of the late Sheriff Hall of Peterboro’, and has issue;
six children. He has taken up his abode in Halifax and Ottawa. We hope and
believe that the country is to profit still more by his great abilities.
England and Canada
A Summer Tour between Old and New Westminster with Historical Notes by
Sandford Fleming, C.E., C.M.G., Etc. (1884) (pdf) |
