James Kidd Flemming Explained

James Kidd Flemming
Order2:Member of Parliament for Victoria—Carleton
Term Start2:October 29, 1925
Term End2:February 10, 1927
Predecessor2:Thomas W. Caldwell
Successor2:Albion R. Foster
Order:14th Premier of New Brunswick
Term Start:October 16, 1911
Term End:December 6, 1914
Lieutenant Governor:Lemuel John Tweedie
Josiah Wood
Predecessor:J. Douglas Hazen
Successor:George J. Clarke
Order3:MLA for Carleton
Term Start3:January 14, 1900
Term End3:December 6, 1914
Predecessor3:Charles L. Smith
Successor3:Benjamin Franklin Smith
Alongside3:Hugh H. McCain, Benjamin Franklin Smith, George W. Upham, George L. White, Stephen B. Appleby, Wendell P. Jones, Donald Munro
Birth Date:April 27, 1868
Birth Place:Lower Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada
Death Place:McKenzie Corner, New Brunswick, Canada
Party:Conservative
Children:3 sons, 2 daughters
Relations:Hugh John Flemming (son)
Occupation:Businessman, lumberman, teacher
Profession:Politician

James Kidd Flemming (April 27, 1868 – February 10, 1927) was a businessman and politician in New Brunswick, Canada.

Flemming was a school teacher and lumberman before entering politics and serving as Provincial Secretary-Treasurer from 1908 to 1911 and Minister of Lands and Mines from 1911 to 1914. He succeeded Douglas Hazen as the Premier of New Brunswick in 1911. In the June 1912 general election, Flemming led his provincial party to the biggest electoral victory in its history. In addition to two independent Conservative seats, the Conservative Party captured 42 of the province's 46 seats.

Under Flemming, the French language was used for the first time in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick.

In 1914, Premier Flemming was forced to resign after charges of fundraising irregularities against him were made public by a powerful group of back-room Liberals known as the "Dark Lantern Brigade" led by party organizers Peter Veniot and Edward S. Carter plus lawyer and Federal Member of Parliament, Frank Carvell.

Nevertheless, Flemming remained popular and won a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the 1925 federal election and again in the 1926 election.

He was president and director of the Flemming and Gibson lumber business in Juniper, New Brunswick. His son, Hugh John Flemming took over the business and too entered politics, serving as Premier of New Brunswick from 1952 to 1960.

James Kidd Flemming suffered from poor health for many of his adult years and died in 1927 at age fifty-eight. He and his wife Helena are buried in the family plot at the Methodist Church Cemetery in Woodstock, New Brunswick.[1]

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: FLEMMING, James Kidd (Hon.). New Brunswick Cemeteries. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. 2 November 2010.