Fleming, David Hay, 1849-1931

David Hay Fleming (1849-1931) was born in St Andrews on 9 May 1849. He studied at Madras College and then engaged in business until he retired in 1883 to devote himself to the study of Scottish history. In 1904-06 he was lecturer on Church History in New College, Edinburgh. In theology he was an old school Presbyterian and a staunch Calvinist. He was author of works including: The Martyrs and Confessors of St Andrews (Cupar, 1887), Mary Queen of Scots from her birth to her flight into England, (London, 1897), The Scottish Reformation (Edinburgh 1903) and The Story of the Scottish Covenants in Outline (1904). He served as Secretary of the Scottish History Society and Honorary Curator of the St Andrews Cathedral museum. His Guidebook to St Andrews, published in 1881, was held as the standard text on the subject for many years. For this and other work he received an honorary LLD degree from the University of St Andrews in 1898. As an independent scholar and eminent local historian and antiquary he accumulated a voluminous library of around 13000 books, a collection of manuscripts and personal papers which was left to St Andrews on his death with a bequest to endow a reference library at St Andrews.

From the guide to the Hay Fleming Reference Collection (photographs and illustrations), 17th century - [ongoing], (University of St Andrews)

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