Born in 1848, Hugh Fletcher graduated from the University of Toronto in 1870 with first class honours in Natural Sciences. Five years later, he began working in the field of geology.

From 1875 until his death in 1909, he studied and surveyed the strata enclosing the Coal Measures of Nova Scotia. This made for efficient exploration and exploitation of the coal deposits. Along with E.R. Faribault, he systematically mapped Nova Scotia's geology in great detail. The series of maps produced by their teamwork was the Geological Survey of Canada's most ambitious project to that point.

Fletcher and Faribault published 70 map sheets with a scale of 1 inch = 1 mile (1 : 63,360), as well as many cross sections and detailed plans on scales as large as 1 inch = 500 ft (1 : 6000). These excellent geological maps represent, in most cases, the first accurate delineation of many of the province's coalfields and continue to be used and appreciated by geologists today.