(1827-1915)

A t the age of 18, armed with a little formal training in surveying and engineering, Fleming emigrated to Canada from Kirkaldy, Scotland. In 1858, as chief engineer of the Northern Railway, he first proposed a railway to the Pacific. Many years later, he played a leading part in its construction.
Nationalist and imperialist of talent, vision and energy, he was responsible for a wide variety of projects central to Canada’s scientific, academic and cultural life. Fleming designed the "Three-Penny Beaver," Canada’s first adhesive postage stamp, in 1851. He also proposed the present system of standard time, by which the world is divided into 24 equal time zones. It was adopted in 1884.