Photographs

Sir Sandford Fleming

Sandford Fleming and his grandchildren, 1895

Sir Sandford Fleming

by Iris V. Shea

Scottish born Sandford Fleming established a residence in Halifax in the 1860s, and bought several lots of land on the western side of the Northwest Arm in the 1870s. He was chief engineer for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway between Quebec and Nova Scotia, designed Canada’s first postage stamp and developed the idea of standard time zones which earned him the title “Father of Standard Time.” He was the chief surveyor and engineer for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1871 to 1880. His summer home in Halifax was at 14 Oxford Street, the address used for  "Blenheim Lodge",  before Blenheim Terrace came into being. His house in Ottawa was known as "Winterholme".

Locally we remember Sir Sandford Fleming for his contributions to the Northwest Arm and to Halifax. Without Fleming there would be no Memorial Tower and no Fleming Park. St. Augustine’s Church in Jollimore had its beginnings when Fleming donated the land in 1895 and insisted that a place of worship be built on that land within the year. The old stone church served the residents on the western side of the Arm from 1896 until 1963. The woods and trails around Frog Pond were part of Fleming’s donation to the city of Halifax on the condition that a Memorial Tower be built on his property. In 1912 the tower was completed as a monument to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Representative Government in Nova Scotia (1758 to 1908). Fleming was instrumental in having the road from Halifax extended from Melville Island to his Dingle Gates.  In 1893, he built the old Green Road through his land and through part of the Imperial Government land, providing a connection from the Purcell’s Cove Road to the Herring Cove Road. Sir Sandford Fleming died in the cottage on the Dingle Road in the summer of 1915 while visiting his son-in-law and daughter, Captain and Mrs. Thomas Critchley.

MG 9, Vol. 188, p. 147, NS Archives 

Sir Sandford Fleming, passed away yesterday at home of his daughter Mrs. Critchley, North West Arm, midway between his 88th and 89th year. Born 7 Jan. 1827, married 1855 Miss Jane Hall, daughter of Sheriff Hall, Peterboro, Ontario. Leaves three sons and two daughters, Sandford, Walter, Hugh, Mrs.Exshaw and Mrs. Critchley.  His summer residence was at the Lodge, off Oxford Street, near the Kenny residence, Thornvale. He was spending the summer with Mr. And Mrs. Critchley at their residence on the west side of the Northwest Arm. He acquired the land on the west side of the Arm from the Murphy estate and others. His holdings extended uninterruptedly from Melville Island to North West Arm Village, extending some distance westward. Sir Sandford spent considerable money on the Property, having roads constructed and about twenty years ago he had look out summer houses built on two of the high hills on the property from which splendid views were obtained. One of these houses blew down by a heavy gale and the other was accidentally destroyed by fire.

Inside the Memorial Tower

There are 37 plaques – all gifts from commonwealth countries and cities as well as from Canadian Universities and Societies. There are also two original inscription plates

Plate #1 inside tower, first level

This Tower was dedicated by

Field Marshall H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught K.C.

Governor General of Canada

on August the fourteenth 1912

James Drummond McGregor Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia

George Henry Murray Premier of Nova Scotia

Frederick Pennington Bligh Mayor of Halifax

Donald MacGillivary President Halifax Canadian Club

Building Committee

Alex Kenneth MacLean Sir Sandford Fleming

George Everett Faulkner Joseph Andrew Chisholm

William Bernard Wallace

Sydney Perry Dumaresq & Andrew Randall Cobb Architects

S.M. Brookfield Limited Contractors

Plate #2 on first level is inscribed:

 This Tower was erected to keep in the grateful memory of a loyal people the grant by Great Britain of Representative Government in Nova Scotia and in the other provinces of Canada, as well as in the Dominions beyond the seas. The foundation stone was laid by Duncan Cameron Fraser, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, on the second day of October, nineteen hundred and eight – the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Nova Scotia. This Assesmbly – the first elected legislative body in Canada – was constituted in accordance with the settled colonial policy of Great Britain and in obedience to the terms of the commissions issued to the early governors of Nova Scotia, and has met annually in Halifax during the intervening century and a half. Erected by the Canadian Club of Halifax aided by contributions from other Canadian Clubs and from governments, municipalities, corporations and individuals throughout the empire, the first gift being the Park of one hundred acres in which this Tower stands from Sir Sandford Fleming, K.C.M.G.

NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA