View source for Sandford Fleming

{{Short description|Scottish-Canadian engineer and inventor (1827–1915)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
|name        = Sandford Fleming
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|KCMG|FRSC|size=100%}}
|image       = Sir Sandford Fleming.jpg
|caption     = Portrait of Sir Sandford Fleming by [[John Wycliffe Lowes Forster]]
|birth_date  = {{birth date|1827|1|7}}
|birth_place = [[Kirkcaldy]], Scotland
|death_date  = {{death date and age|1915|7|22|1827|1|7}}
|death_place = [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], Canada
|other_names = 
|known_for   = Inventing, most notably [[standard time]]
|occupation  = [[engineer]] and [[inventor]]
{{Infobox military person
   |embed        = yes
   |embed_title  = Military Service
   |allegiance   = [[Canada]]
   |branch       = [[Canadian Militia]]
   |serviceyears = 1862–1865
   |unit         = [[Royal Regiment of Canada|10th Volunteer Battalion of Rifles]]
   |rank         = Captain
   |battles      = 
  }}
}}

'''Sir Sandford Fleming''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|KCMG|FRSC}} (January 7, 1827 – July 22, 1915) was a Scottish Canadian [[engineer]] and [[inventor]]. Born and raised in [[Scotland]], he immigrated to [[colonial Canada]] at the age of 18. He promoted worldwide standard [[time zones]], a [[prime meridian]], and use of the [[24-hour clock]] as key elements to communicating the accurate time, all of which influenced the creation of [[Coordinated Universal Time]].<ref name="Creet">{{cite journal |last1=Creet |first1=Mario |title=Sandford Fleming and Universal Time |journal=Scientia Canadensis: Canadian Journal of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine |date=1990 |volume=14 |issue=1–2 |pages=66–89 |doi=10.7202/800302ar|doi-access=free }}</ref> He designed Canada's first [[postage stamp]], produced a great deal of work in the fields of [[surveying|land surveying]] and [[cartography|map making]], engineered much of the [[Intercolonial Railway]] and the first several hundred kilometers of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]], and was a founding member of the [[Royal Society of Canada]] and founder of the [[Royal Canadian Institute|Canadian Institute]] (a science organization in [[Toronto]]).

==Early life==
[[File:Sir Sanford Fleming House, Brunswick St., Halifax, Nova Scotia.jpg|thumb|left|Sir Sandford Fleming House (1866–1871), Brunswick St., [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]]]]
In 1827, Fleming was born in [[Kirkcaldy, Fife]], Scotland<ref>{{cite web|title=Life at full speed: Artist, scientist and inventor|url=http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2010.html|website=sandfordfleming.ca|publisher=Canadian Railway Museum|access-date=January 7, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107170501/http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2010.html|archive-date=January 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> to Andrew and Elizabeth Fleming. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed as a surveyor and in 1845,<ref>{{cite web|title=Life at full speed: The apprentice|url=http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2011.html|website=sandfordfleming.ca|publisher=Canadian Railway Museum|access-date=January 7, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171457/http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2011.html|archive-date=January 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> at the age of 18, he immigrated with his older brother David to colonial [[Province of Canada|Canada]]. Their route took them through many cities of the Canadian colonies: [[Quebec City]], [[Montreal]], and [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]], before settling in [[Peterborough, Ontario]] with their cousins two years later in 1847. He qualified as a surveyor in Canada in 1849.<ref>{{cite web|title=Life at full speed: Finding a first job|url=http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2022.html|website=sandfordfleming.ca|publisher=Canadian Railway Museum|access-date=January 7, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171459/http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2022.html|archive-date=January 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 1849 he created the [[Royal Canadian Institute]] with several friends, which was formally incorporated on November 4, 1851. Although initially intended as a professional institute for surveyors and engineers it became a more general scientific society. In 1851 he designed the ''[[Threepenny Beaver]]'', the first Canadian postage stamp,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chase |first1=Steven |title=Beavers can't cut it as national emblem, but polar bears can, senator says |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/beavers-cant-cut-it-as-national-emblem-but-polar-bears-can-senator-says/article559421/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=31 August 2025 |date=27 October 2011 |quote=Sir Sandford Fleming assured the beaver a position as a national symbol when he featured it on the first Canadian postage stamp}}</ref> for the [[Province of Canada]] (today's southern portions of Ontario and Quebec). Throughout this time he was fully employed as a [[surveying|surveyor]], mostly for the [[Grand Trunk Railway]]. His work for them eventually gained him the position as ''Chief Engineer'' of the [[Northern Railway of Canada]] in 1855, where he advocated the construction of [[iron]] [[bridge]]s instead of wood for safety reasons.

Fleming served in the 10th Battalion Volunteer Rifles of Canada (later known as the [[Royal Regiment of Canada]]) and was appointed to the rank of captain on January 1, 1862. He retired from the militia in 1865.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

==Family==
[[File:Sir Sanford Fleming 1893.jpg|thumb|right|Fleming with his grandchildren in 1893]]
As soon as he arrived in [[Peterborough, Ontario]] in 1845, Fleming became friendly with the family of his future wife, the Halls, and was attracted to Ann Jane (Jeanie) Hall. However, it was not until a sleigh accident almost ten years later that the young people's love for each other was revealed. A year after this incident, in January 1855, Sandford married Ann Jane (Jean) Hall, daughter of Sheriff James Hall. They were to have nine children of whom two died young. The oldest son, Frank Andrew, accompanied Fleming in his great Western expedition of 1872. A family man, deeply attached to his wife and children, he also welcomed his father Andrew Greig Fleming, Andrew's wife and six of their other children who came to join him in Canada two years after his arrival. The Fleming and Hall families saw each other often.

After the death of his wife Jeanie in 1888, Fleming's niece Miss Elsie Smith, daughter of Alexander and Lily Smith, of [[Kingussie]], Scotland, presided over his household at "Winterholme" 213 Chapel Street, [[Ottawa, Ontario]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Morgan |editor-first=Henry James |editor-link=Henry James Morgan |title=Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada |location=Toronto |publisher=Williams Briggs |date=1903 |url=https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft |page=[https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft/page/320 320]}}</ref>

==Railway engineer==
His time at the Northern Railway was marked by conflict with the architect [[Frederick William Cumberland]], with whom he started the Canadian Institute and who was general manager of the railway until 1855. Starting as assistant engineer in 1852, Fleming replaced Cumberland in 1855 but was in turn ousted by him in 1862. In 1863 he became the chief government surveyor of Nova Scotia charged with the construction of a line from [[Truro, Nova Scotia|Truro]] to [[Pictou]]. When he would not accept the tenders from contractors that he considered too high, he was asked to bid for the work himself and completed the line by 1867 with both savings for the government and profit for himself.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=33171|title=Fleming, Sandford|orig-year=2004|year=2005|last=Grant|first=W. L.}}</ref>

[[File:LastSpike Craigellachie BC Canada - cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Sandford Fleming (in tallest hat) at the ceremony of the "last spike" being driven on the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]]]]
In 1862 he placed before the government a plan for a transcontinental railway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.<ref>
{{citation|title=Suggestions on the Inter-colonial Railway|first=Sandford|last=Fleming|year=1862|isbn=9780665230196|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_23019|access-date=January 25, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421195100/https://archive.org/details/cihm_23019|archive-date=April 21, 2016|df=mdy-all}}
</ref> The first part, between [[Halifax (former city)|Halifax]] and [[Quebec]] became an important part of the preconditions for [[New Brunswick]] and Nova Scotia to [[Canadian Confederation#Joining Confederation|join the Canadian Federation]] because of the uncertainties of travel through [[Maine]] because of the [[American Civil War]]. In 1867 he was appointed engineer-in-chief of the [[Intercolonial Railway]] which became a federal project and he continued in this post until 1876. His insistence on building the bridges of iron and stone instead of wood was controversial at the time, but was soon vindicated by their resistance to fire.<ref name=dcbsf>{{cite DCB |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fleming_sandford_14E.html|title=Fleming, Sir Sandford |first=Mario |last=Creet |volume=14 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519043143/http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=7370|archive-date=May 19, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Between 1870 and 1875 Fleming supervised the building of several parts of the Intercolonial railway being built by Brown, Brooks & Ryan, a Toronto firm established by railway magnate [[Hugh Ryan (railway magnate)|Hugh Ryan]].<ref>Fleming, Sir Sandford (1876). [https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/chung/chungpub/items/1.0056575 "The Intercolonial Railway"]. ''The Chung Collection at The University of British Columbia''. Montreal, Quebec: Dawson Bros. p. 312.</ref> These sections were particularly costly due to the difficult terrain and included two bridges over the [[Miramichi River]] and six miles of approaches.<ref>{{cite book | title = Suggestions on the Inter-colonial railway and the construction of a highway and telegraph line between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans within the British territory: Respectfully submitted to the Government of Canada | last = Fleming | first = Sandford | publisher = W.C. Chewett & Co | year = 1862 | isbn = 978-0-665-23019-6 | url = https://archive.org/details/cihm_23019/page/n5/mode/2up }}</ref>

By 1871, the strategy of a railway connection was being used to bring [[British Columbia]] into federation and Fleming was offered the chief engineer post on the [[Canadian Pacific Survey]]. Although he hesitated because of the amount of work he had, in 1872 he set off with a small party to survey the route, particularly through the [[Rocky Mountains]], finding a practicable route through the [[Yellowhead Pass]]. One of his companions, [[George Monro Grant]] wrote an account of the trip, which became a best-seller.<ref>
{{citation|title=Ocean to Ocean|first=George Monro|last=Grant|year=1873|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_29013|access-date=January 25, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311201447/https://archive.org/details/cihm_29013|archive-date=March 11, 2016|df=mdy-all|hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t0tq7358g|hdl-access=free|publisher=Toronto : Belford|isbn=9780665290138}}
</ref> In June 1880, Fleming was dismissed by [[Sir Charles Tupper]], with a $30,000 payoff.<ref name=dcbsf/><ref name=dcbct>{{cite DCB |first=Phillip |last=Buckner |title=TUPPER, Sir CHARLES |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tupper_charles_14E.html |volume=14 |access-date=September 17, 2015}}</ref> It was the hardest blow of Fleming's life, though he obtained a promise of monopoly, later revoked, on his next project, a trans-pacific telegraph cable.<ref name=dcbsf/> Nevertheless, in 1884 he became a director of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] and was present as the [[Last spike (Canadian Pacific Railway)|last spike]] was driven.

==Inventor of worldwide standard time==
[[File:Birthplace of Standard Time plaque, Toronto.jpg|thumb|right|400px|The [[Toronto]] site where Fleming first proposed standard time is marked by a provincial plaque<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages/Birthplace_of_Standard_Time.html|title=Birthplace of Standard Time Historical Plaque|last=Brown|first=Alan L.|date=June 2010|website=Toronto's Historical Plaques|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103112/http://www.torontohistory.org/Pages/Birthplace_of_Standard_Time.html|archive-date=2015-04-02|access-date=2015-04-02}}</ref>]]

Fleming is credited with "the initial effort that led to the adoption of the present time meridians".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/d.html|title=History & info – Standard time began with the railroads|website=www.webexhibits.org|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422115309/http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/d.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After missing a train while travelling in [[Ireland]] because a printed schedule listed p.m. instead of a.m.,<ref name="TerrestrialTime"/>{{rp|8}} in 1876 he wrote a memoir "Terrestrial Time" where he proposed a single 24-hour clock for the entire world, conceptually located at the centre of the Earth and not linked to any surface meridian.<ref name="TerrestrialTime"/>{{rp|13}} He later called this time "Cosmopolitan time" and later still "Cosmic Time".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=Sandford |title=Universal or cosmic time |date=1885 |publisher=Toronto : Council of the Canadian Institute |isbn=978-0-665-61008-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_61008/page/n15/mode/2up}}</ref> 

He also proposed 24 [[time zone]]s, each an hour wide or 15 degrees of longitude. The zones were labelled A-Y, excluding J, and arbitrarily linked to the Greenwich meridian, which was designated G. All clocks within each zone would be set to the same time as the others, and between zones the alphabetic labels could be used as common notation. So for example cosmopolitan time G:45 would map to local time 14:45 in one zone and 15:45 in the next.<ref name="TerrestrialTime">{{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=Sandford |title=Terrestrial time: a memoir |date=1876 |isbn=9780665061127 |url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_06112/page/n17/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=One Time Fits All: The Campaigns for Global Uniformity|last1=Bartky|first1=Ian|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2007|isbn=9780804756426|location=Stanford, California|pages=54–55}}</ref>

In two papers "Time reckoning" and "Longitude and Time Reckoning" presented at a meeting of the Canadian Institute in Toronto on February 8, 1879, Fleming revised his system to link with the anti-meridian of [[Royal Observatory, Greenwich|Greenwich]] (the [[180th meridian]]). He suggested that a [[prime meridian]] be chosen and analyzed shipping numbers to suggest Greenwich as the meridian.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=Sandford |title=Papers on time-reckoning and the selection of a prime meridian to be common to all nations: transmitted to the British government by His Excellency the Governor-General of Canada |date=1879 |publisher=Toronto |isbn=9780665031359 |url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_03135/page/n13/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| issue = 1| pages = 345–366| last = Fleming| first = Sandford| title = Time-reckoning for the twentieth century| journal = Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution| date = 1886| url = https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/annualreportofbo18861smit}} Reprinted in 1889: {{Internet Archive|timereckoningfor00flem|''Time-reckoning for the twentieth century''}}.</ref> Fleming's two papers were considered so important that in June 1879 the British Government forwarded copies to eighteen foreign countries and to various scientific bodies in England.<ref>{{harvnb|Howse|1980|p=132}}</ref>

Fleming went on to advocate his system at several major international conferences including the Geographical Congress at Venice in 1881,<ref name="IGC Venice">{{cite web | title=Report upon the Third International Geographical Congress and Exhibition at Venice, Italy, 1881 : accompanied by data concerning the principal government land and marine surveys of the world : Wheeler, George M. (George Montague), 1842-1905 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive | website=Internet Archive | date=23 October 2016 | url=https://archive.org/details/reportuponthirdi00whee/mode/2up | access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref> a meeting of the Geodetic Association at Rome in 1883,<ref>{{cite journal | last=Guinot | first=Bernard | title=Solar time, legal time, time in use | journal=Metrologia | volume=48 | issue=4 | date=1 August 2011 | issn=0026-1394 | doi=10.1088/0026-1394/48/4/S08 | pages=S181–S185| bibcode=2011Metro..48S.181G }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Howse|1980|p=136}}</ref> and the [[International Meridian Conference]] of 1884.<ref name="PM&IST">{{cite journal | last1=Black | first1=H. D. | last2=Gebel | first2=G. | last3=Newton | first3=R.R. |date=October–December 1984 |title=The Centenary of the Prime Meridian and of International Standard Time |url=https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/Content/techdigest/pdf/V05-N04/05-04-Black.pdf |journal=Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest |volume=5 |issue=4. Space Research and Development—I |pages=381–389 | bibcode=1984JHATD...5..381B |access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_29/October_1886/Universal_Time |magazine=Popular Science Monthly |title=Universal Time | volume=29 |date=October 1886 |author=William Henry Mahoney Christie |access-date=2011-08-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823075712/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_29/October_1886/Universal_Time |archive-date=August 23, 2013 |df=mdy-all|page=799}}</ref> The International Meridian Conference accepted the [[Greenwich Meridian]] and a universal day of 24 hours beginning at Greenwich midnight. However, the conference's resolution specified that the universal day "shall not interfere with the use of local or standard time where desirable". The conference also refused to accept his zones, stating that they were a local issue outside its purview.<ref name=imc>{{citation |title=International conference held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day. October, 1884. Protocols of the proceedings. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433084034655&view=1up&seq=211 |access-date=July 23, 2018 |year=1884 |page=201 |publisher = Gibson bros.|location=Washington, D. C.}}</ref>

Fleming authored the pamphlet "Time-Reckoning for the 20th Century",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=Sandford |title=Time-reckoning for the twentieth century |date=1889 |publisher=Byson S. Adams |location=Washington |url=https://archive.org/details/timereckoningfor00flem/page/n1/mode/2up}}</ref> published by the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in its annual report for 1886.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Smithsonian Institution |title=Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution |date=1889 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington |pages=345–366 |url=https://archive.org/details/annualreportofbo18861smit/page/n441/mode/2up}}</ref>

By 1929, all major countries in the world had accepted time zones. In the present day, [[UTC offsets]] divide the world into zones, and [[military time zones]] assign letters to 24 hourly zones, similar to Fleming's system.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stromberg |first1=Joseph |title=Sandford Fleming Sets the World's Clock |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/sandford-fleming-sets-the-worlds-clock-389930/ |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=November 18, 2011 |language=en}}</ref>

Fleming was also interested in global calendar reform. He met [[Moses B. Cotsworth]] in 1908 when Cotsworth visited Ottawa. They discussed the [[International Fixed Calendar]] over lunch and Fleming agreed to present Cotsworth's paper on his 13-month calendar to the [[Royal Society of Canada]].<ref>Cook, Anna J. (1st August 2024) A Man Beyond Time: Moses B. Cotsworth's fight for the 13-month calendar, Independent Publishing Network ISBN 978-1-80517-720-3</ref> Fleming maintained a close friendship with Cotsworth and they often corresponded by letter. Fleming became the president of the International Fixed Almanak Reform League which, in 1922, became the [[International Fixed Calendar League]]. He supported the campaign until his death. Cotsworth later wrote The Greatest Canadian as a tribute to Fleming.<ref>Cotsworth, M. B. (n.d.) The Greatest Canadian Vancouver: Author</ref>

==Later life==
When the railway privatization instituted by Tupper in 1880 forced him out of a job with government, he retired from the world of surveying, and took the position of Chancellor of [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]] in [[Kingston, Ontario]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data4.archives.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s2=&s4=&s3=&s1=kingston&s6=y+and+gif&s8=&Sect4=AND&l=0&Sect1=IMAGE&Sect2=THESOFF&Sect4=AND&Sect5=FOTOPEN&Sect6=HITOFF&d=FOTO&p=1&u=http://www.archives.ca/02/02011503_e.html&r=9&f=G|title=Descriptive records – National Archives of Canada|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824221638/http://data4.archives.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s2=&s4=&s3=&s1=kingston&s6=y+and+gif&s8=&Sect4=AND&l=0&Sect1=IMAGE&Sect2=THESOFF&Sect4=AND&Sect5=FOTOPEN&Sect6=HITOFF&d=FOTO&p=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archives.ca%2F02%2F02011503_e.html&r=9&f=G|archive-date=August 24, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He held this position for his last 35 years, where his former Minister [[George Monro Grant]] was principal from 1877 until Grant's death in 1902. Not content to leave well enough alone, he tirelessly advocated the construction of a [[submarine communications cable|submarine telegraph cable]] connecting all of the [[British Empire]], the [[All Red Line]], which was completed in 1902.<ref>{{DFHD|921|Pacific Cable National Historic Event}}</ref>

Being a man of ideas, in 1882 he authored a book on the land policy of the HBC.<ref>[https://library.ualberta.ca/peel Peel's Prairie Provinces] (online), No. 1066</ref>

He also kept up with business ventures, becoming in 1882 one of the founding owners of the [[Nova Scotia Cotton Manufacturing Company]] in [[City of Halifax|Halifax]]. He was a member of the [[North British Society]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsnorthbri00nort |title=Annals, North British Society, Halifax, Nova Scotia : with portraits and biographical notes, 1768–1903 |last=Macdonald |first=James S. |date=1905 |publisher=McAlpine |location=Halifax, N.S |pages=[https://archive.org/details/annalsnorthbri00nort/page/414 414]}}</ref> He also helped found the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company, which spawned the company town of [[Exshaw]], Alberta. In 1910, this business was captured in a hostile take-over by stock manipulators acting under the name [[Canada Cement Company]], an action which Fleming took as a personal blow.<ref>''The Western Canada Cement and Coal Company'', 1910 (CIHM microfilm collection); ''Journal of Commerce'', July 1930</ref>

In 1880 he served as the vice president of the [[Ottawa Horticultural Society]].<ref>[http://www.ottawahort.org/history/1880/1880premlist.pdf Premium list of Valley of Ottawa Horticultural Society] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226024336/http://www.ottawahort.org/history/1880/1880premlist.pdf |date=February 26, 2009 }}.</ref> In 1888, he became the first president of the [[Rideau Curling Club]],<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://rideaucurlingclub.com/historyPage.php | title=Rideau Curling Club :: Club History | access-date=December 17, 2018 | archive-date=December 18, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218010625/https://rideaucurlingclub.com/historyPage.php | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rideau-curling-club-celebrates-125-years-in-ottawa-1.2421739 |title = Rideau Curling Club celebrates 125 years in Ottawa &#124; CBC News}}</ref> after leaving the [[Ottawa Curling Club]] in protest of its [[temperance movement|temperance]] policy.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.ottawacurlingclub.com/about/history | title=The Ottawa Curling Club : Club History | access-date=December 17, 2018 | archive-date=December 18, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218054407/https://www.ottawacurlingclub.com/about/history | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In early 1890s he turned his attention to electoral reform and the need for [[proportional representation]]. He authored two books on the subject "An Appeal to the Canadian Institute on the Rectification of Parliament" (1892) and "Essays on the Rectification of Parliament" (1893), which included an essay by Australian reformer [[Catherine Helen Spence]].

He became a strong advocate of a telecommunications cable from Canada to Australia, which he believed would become a vital communications link of the British Empire. The Pacific Cable was successfully laid in 1902.<ref>Canadian Encyclopedia</ref> He authored the book "Canada and British Imperial Cables" in 1900.<ref>Encyclopedia.com</ref>

His accomplishments were well known worldwide, and in 1897 he was [[Order of St Michael and St George|knighted]] by [[Queen Victoria]]. He was a [[freemason]], having joined St Andrew's Lodge No 1 [Now No 16] in York [now Toronto].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html|title=A few famous freemasons|author=Trevor W. McKeown|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912081202/http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html|archive-date=September 12, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://freemasonrytoronto.com/st-andrews-lodge/ | title=St. Andrew's No. 16 }}</ref>

In 1883, while surveying the route of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] with [[George Monro Grant]], he met Major [[A. B. Rogers]] near the summit of [[Rogers Pass (British Columbia)]] and co-founded the first "Alpine Club of Canada".<ref>{{cite book | title = The Great Glacier and Its House | last = Putnam | first = William Lowell | date = June 1982 | chapter = Chapter 8 | publisher = American Alpine Club | isbn = 978-0930410131}}</ref> That early alpine club was short-lived, but in 1906 the modern [[Alpine Club of Canada]] was founded in Winnipeg, and the by then Sir Sandford Fleming became the club's first Patron and Honorary President.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.accmanitoba.ca/acc-centennial-plaque-project/ | title = ACC Centennial Plaque Project | last = Cormie | first = David | work = Alpine Club of Canada - Manitoba Section | date = December 3, 2014 | publisher = Alpine Club of Canada, Manitoba Section | access-date = February 4, 2016 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170216012938/http://www.accmanitoba.ca/acc-centennial-plaque-project/ | archive-date = February 16, 2017 | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

[[File:Fleming cottage.jpg|thumb|left|Fleming Cottage, the 1886 summer residence of Sandford Fleming and location of his death in 1915.]]
In his later years he split his time between Ottawa at his house named "Winterholme" and Halifax where he owned a mansion known as "Blenheim Cottage", but often called "The Lodge" at the corner of Oxford Street and South Street overlooking the [[Northwest Arm]]<ref>John W. Regan, ''Sketches and Traditions of the Northwest Arm'', Halifax, 3rd Edition, 1928, p. 98</ref> as well as a summer estate across the Arm called "The Dingle" which included the Sandford Fleming Cottage, a small rustic residence he built in 1886. He later deeded the 95 acres (38 hectares) of "the Dingle" to the city, now known as [[Sir Sandford Fleming Park]] (Dingle Park). Fleming died at his Dingle summer Cottage<ref name="historicplaces.ca">[https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=2455 "Sir Sandford Fleming Cottage", The Canadian Register of Historic Places]</ref> while being cared for by his daughter on July 22, 1915.<ref name=dcbsf/> He was buried in Ottawa's [[Beechwood Cemetery]].

== Legacy ==

[[File:Sandford Fleming federal plaque, Ottawa.jpg|thumb|right|300px|This federal plaque at Ottawa's Dominion Observatory reflects Fleming's designation as a [[Persons of National Historic Significance|National Historic Person]]<ref>[http://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques/Plaque_Ottawa48.html Sir Sandford Fleming 1827–1915] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108192037/http://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques/Plaque_Ottawa48.html |date=January 8, 2017 }}, historical marker from OntarioPlaques.com, 2009</ref>]]
[[File:Sandford Fleming Memorial.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ontario plaque to Fleming, "Inventor of Standard Time", at War Memorial Gardens, [[Kirkcaldy]], [[Fife]], Scotland]]
Fleming was designated a [[Persons of National Historic Significance|National Historic Person]] in 1950, on the advice of the national [[National Historic Sites of Canada#Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada|Historic Sites and Monuments Board]].<ref>{{DFHD|1253|Fleming, Sir Sandford National Historic Person}}</ref> On January 7, 2017, [[Google]] celebrated Sandford Fleming's 190th birthday with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/sandford-flemings-190th-birthday/ |title=Sandford Fleming's 190th Birthday |access-date=2017-01-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115141808/http://www.google.com/doodles/sandford-flemings-190th-birthday |archive-date=January 15, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===Things named after Fleming===
====Geographical features====
*The town of [[Fleming, Saskatchewan]] (located on the Canadian Pacific Railway) was named in his honour in 1882.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fleming.html|title=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan – Details|author=Cory Toth – Encyclopedia Of Saskatchewan|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527045726/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/fleming.html|archive-date=May 27, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
*[[Mount Sir Sandford]], which is the highest mountain in the [[Sir Sandford Range]] of the [[Selkirk Mountains]], and the 12th highest peak in British Columbia, is named after him.<ref>{{cite bcgnis|21397|Mount Sir Sandford}}></ref>
*Sandford Island and Fleming Island in [[Barkley Sound]], British Columbia were named after him.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Akrigg|first1=G.P.V & Helen|title=British Columbia Place Names|date=1997|publisher=[[University of British Columbia Press]]|isbn=0-7748-0636-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/britishcolumbiap0000akri_w1q9/page/82 82]|edition=3rd|url=https://archive.org/details/britishcolumbiap0000akri_w1q9/page/82}}</ref>
*[[Sir Sandford Fleming Park]], a {{convert|38|ha|acre|adj=on}} Canadian urban park in Halifax, also known as "The Dingle" (as shown above under "Later life").
*Sandford Fleming Avenue, a street in Ottawa, home to the city's main post office.
*Sir Sandford Fleming Drive, a street in Peterborough.
*Sandford Fleming Drive, a street in Collingwood, Ontario.
*Sandford Fleming Drive, a street in Waterloo, Ontario.

====Buildings and institutions====
* Fleming Hall was built in his honour at [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's]] in 1901, and rebuilt after a fire in 1933. It was the home of the university's Electrical Engineering department.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.queensu.ca/encyclopedia/f/fleming-hall |title=Fleming Hall |encyclopedia=Queen's Encyclopedia |publisher=Queen's University |language=en |access-date=February 6, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170726124205/http://www.queensu.ca/encyclopedia/f/fleming-hall |archive-date=July 26, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* In [[Peterborough, Ontario]], [[Fleming College]], a [[List of Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology|Community College of Applied Arts and Technology]] bearing his name, was opened in 1967, with additional campuses in [[Lindsay, Ontario|Lindsay/Kawartha Lakes]], [[Haliburton, Ontario|Haliburton]], and [[Cobourg, Ontario|Cobourg]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://flemingcollege.ca/50 |title=Fleming 50th |publisher=Fleming College |language=en |access-date=February 6, 2018 |archive-date=February 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207125214/https://flemingcollege.ca/50 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The Sandford Fleming building of the [[University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering]] (Sandford Fleming building)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://map.utoronto.ca/utsg/building/009 |title=Sandford Fleming Building |website=University of Toronto |language=en |access-date=February 6, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709152638/http://map.utoronto.ca/utsg/building/009 |archive-date=July 9, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* Sir Sandford Fleming elementary school was built in Vancouver in 1913.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://heritagevancouver.org/top10-watch-list/2014/5-south-vancouver-high-school/ |title=South Vancouver High School – A memory in the community |website=Heritage Vancouver |date=January 7, 2014 |language=en-CA |access-date=February 6, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207064650/http://heritagevancouver.org/top10-watch-list/2014/5-south-vancouver-high-school/ |archive-date=February 7, 2018 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* [[John Polanyi Collegiate Institute|Sir Sanford Fleming Academy]], located in [[North York, Ontario]] was built in 1964 and was renamed to John Polanyi Collegiate Institute in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/oise/News/cbc_national_great_teachers_docseries_110829.html|title = OISE :: CBC national great teachers docseries 110829 :: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto| date=February 15, 2024 }}</ref>
* Sir Sandford Fleming House, Brunswick Street, Halifax, Fleming's home from 1866 to 1871, now used by a housing and addiction outreach group.<ref>[https://halfwayhouses.ca/en/region/ahha/facility/francis_fleming_house/ Sir Sandford FLeming House Shelter]</ref>
* The Fleming Lodge, home to Fleming from 1872 to 1915, Blenheim Terrace, Halifax.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/2-3m-fleming-mansion-for-sale-in-halifax-1.1704435 "Fleming Mansion For Sale", ''CBC News'', Sept. 6, 2013]</ref>
* Sir Sandford Fleming Cottage, at "the Dingle", Fleming's summer home circa 1886 to 1915 and place of his death, [[Sir Sandford Fleming Park]], Halifax.<ref name="historicplaces.ca"/>

====Memorial====
* Sandford Fleming is commemorated in the town of his birth, [[Kirkcaldy]], Fife, in Scotland, by an [[analemmatic sundial]] located at the northern end of the seafront promenade, unveiled in 2022.<ref>[https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fleming-memorial-sundial-scotland''Fleming Memorial Sundia''], accessed 24 August 2025.</ref>

===Postage stamps===

Fleming has been honoured on two Canadian postage stamps: one from 1977 features his image and a railroad bridge of Fleming's design;<ref>[http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s1=(Fleming.ANYP.+And+%22y%22.I340.)&l=20&d=POST&p=3&u=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/02011702_e.html&r=42&f=G&Sect1=STMP Canadian Postal Archives Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701151603/http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s1=%28Fleming.ANYP.+And+%22y%22.I340.%29&l=20&d=POST&p=3&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Farchivianet%2F02011702_e.html&r=42&f=G&Sect1=STMP |date=July 1, 2017 }}, Sandford Fleming stamp, National Library and Archives, no date</ref> another in 2002 reflects his promotion of the Pacific Cable.<ref>[http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s1=(Fleming.ANYP.+And+%22y%22.I340.)&l=20&d=POST&p=3&u=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/02011702_e.html&r=46&f=G&Sect1=STMP Canadian Postal Archives Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701144616/http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s1=%28Fleming.ANYP.+And+%22y%22.I340.%29&l=20&d=POST&p=3&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Farchivianet%2F02011702_e.html&r=46&f=G&Sect1=STMP |date=July 1, 2017 }}, The Pacific Cable, Fleming, National Library and Archives, no date</ref>
In addition, his design of the Three Penny Beaver, the first postage stamp for the Province of Canada (today's southern portions of Ontario and Quebec), has been used on seven stamp issues – in 1851, 1852, 1859, 1951, and 2001.

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Sir Sandford Fleming Escutcheon.png
|escutcheon = Gules a chevron within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Argent.
|crest = A goat's head erased Argent armed Or.
|motto = Let The Deed Shaw<ref>{{cite book|title=Armory and lineages of Canada |author=Herbert George Todd |date=1915 |page=29}}</ref>}}

==See also==
* [[Sandford Fleming Award]]

==Archives==
There is a Sandford Fleming [[fonds]] at [[Library and Archives Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Finding aid to Sandford Fleming fonds, Library and Archives Canada| date=November 25, 2016 |url= http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=97800&lang=eng}}</ref> Archival reference number is R7666.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{cite DCB |title=Fleming, Sir Stanford |first=Mario |last=Creet |volume=14 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fleming_sandford_14E.html}}
*{{cite book|title=Greenwich Time and the discovery of the longitude|url=https://archive.org/details/greenwichtimedis0000hows|url-access=registration|first=Derek|last=Howse|date=1980|publisher=Oxford Univ Press |isbn=978-0-19-215948-9}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Sir Sandford Fleming |first=T.D. |last=Regehr |orig-year=February 21, 2008 |date=July 24, 2015
 |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-sandford-fleming}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Blaise | first=Clark | title=Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the Creation of Standard Time | publisher=Vintage | publication-place=New York | date=2002 | isbn=978-0-375-72752-8}}

==External links==
{{Archival records
| title                 = Sir Sandford Fleming fonds
| location              = [[Dalhousie University Archives]]
| inventory_number      = MS-2-658
| description_URL       = https://findingaids.library.dal.ca/sir-sandford-fleming-fonds
}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=45904}}
* [http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f9150.html sandfordfleming.ca: Sources]
* {{FadedPage|id=Fleming, Sir Sandford|name=Sir Sandford Fleming|author=yes}}
* {{Librivox author |id=14284}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041215170520/http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?ID=10182 Heritage Minutes: Sir Sandford Fleming]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120427221329/http://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques_MNO/Plaque_Ottawa48.html Ontario Historical Plaques]
* [https://flemingcollege.ca/about-fleming/sir-sandford-fleming-our-namesake Biography from ''Sir Sandford Fleming College'' website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928165026/http://www.kirkcaldycivicsociety.co.uk/plq_fleming_shirra.html Reverend Shirra and Sir Sandford Fleming Plaque in Kirkcaldy]
* [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/large.php?accessnumber=MP-0000.169&Lang=1&imageID=150295 Sir Sandford Fleming circa 1885]
* [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/large.php?accessnumber=II-147485&Lang=1&imageID=144177 Sir Sandford Fleming in 1903]
* [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/sir-sandford-fleming The Canadian Encyclopedia, Sir Sandford Fleming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014031956/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/sir-sandford-fleming |date=October 14, 2013 }}
* {{citation|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_03138|title=Terrestrial Time|first=Sandford|last=Fleming|year=1876|journal=[[Canadian Institute]]|isbn=9780665031380}}

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{{succession box
| before=[[John Cook (Canadian minister)|John Cook]]
| title=[[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of Queen's College/[[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]]
| years=1880–1915
| after=[[James Douglas (businessman)|James Douglas]]
}}
{{s-npo|pro}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George Lawson (botanist)|George Lawson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of the Royal Society of Canada]]|years=1888–1889}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Raymond Casgrain]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Principals and Chancellors of Queen's University}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Sandford}}
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