John Fleming was born near Bathgate, West Lothian, on 10 January 1785. Although he studied in preparation for the Church he was also deeply in interested in natural history and science, and he managed to follow the two throughout his life. By conducting a mineralogical survey of Orkney and Shetland for Sir John Sinclair he became acquainted with the clergy in Shetland and managed to find a vacancy in the Parish of Bressay in 1808. During this time he published Economical mineralogy of the Orkney and Zetland islands (1807) and On the narwhal or sea-unicorn . In 1810 he went to the Parish of Flisk, Fife, and after many papers on local natural history he became known as Scotland's first zoologist. In 1814, Fleming was awarded the degree of D.D. from St. Andrews University and in 1822 he published The philosophy of zoology . This was translated into Italian by Zandrini and it became a standard work in Italy in the nineteenth century. In 1832 he went to the Parish of Clackmannan, and in 1834 he was appointed to the Chair of Natural Philosophy at Aberdeen University. Fleming also published British animals (1828) and The lithology of Edinburgh (1859). In 1843 after the Disruption, he joined the new Free Church of Scotland. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Rev. John Fleming died on 18 November 1857.
From the guide to the Papers of the Rev. John Fleming, Professor of Natural Philosophy (1785-1857), 1808-1931, (Edinburgh University Library)
