Fleming Hall

Fleming Hall is today a building comprised of two wings: the Jemmett Wing is in fact the original Fleming Hall, which was built between 1902-1904, and is now the southernmost of the two wings. The Stewart-Pollock wing, added in 1964, sits north of the original building and, is attached by a second floor walkway.

The original Fleming Hall, known today as the Jemmett Wing, was the result of Principal George Monro Grant's attempts to secure a number of new buildings for Queen's before his death. The building was funded by a $112,500 gift from the Ontario government to the Kingston School of Mining and Agriculture. Principal Grant had cleverly created this "independent" school, affiliated with Queen's, in order to sidestep the government regulations against giving funding to a denominational university (which Queen's was at the time). The School of Mining was, in reality, an arm of the Queen's Faculty of Practical Science, which had been established in 1894. Thus the gift to this "independent" school resulted in two new buildings for Queen's, and one of them was Fleming Hall.

In 1933, a short circuit started a fire in Fleming Hall, and everything above the basement was destroyed. During reconstruction, its pitched roof was replaced by a flat one, reflecting a change in University policy after a fire in the Old Medical Building. Fleming Hall housed at various times the campus bookstore, the radio station, a heating and power plant, and the Departments of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. The Jemmett wing now houses a variety of administrative offices, Campus Security, and Queen's Telecommunications. The Stewart-Pollock wing holds the Department of Marketing and Communications as well as the School of Graduate Studies and Research.

Fleming Hall with its various wings honours several figures in Queen's history. The original building was named for Sir Sandford Fleming, who was a noted Chancellor of Queen's. The other three honourees were all affiliated with Electrical Engineering, which was located in Fleming Hall until 1989. The Jemmett Wing is named for Douglas Mill Jemmett, who was head of the department for 36 years. The Stewart-Pollock Wing is named in honor of Harold Huton Stewart and Harold Stockwell Pollock, who were both professors of electrical engineering and between the two of them taught at Queen's for 81 years.

Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915)

Sir Sandford Fleming served as the Chancellor of Queen's University for an astonishing 35 years. He was known at Queen's for the vigour, intelligence, and integrity that characterized everything he did. Born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland in 1827, Fleming studied surveying in his home town before coming to Canada at the age of 17, on a ship called "Brilliant", which arrived in Quebec in 1845. During the 1850's and 1860's, Fleming worked for several small railway companies in Upper Canada and Nova Scotia. At this early point in his career, he designed Canada's first postage stamp, the three-penny beaver, which was issued in 1851.

In 1867, Sir Sandford Fleming was appointed the Chief Engineer of the Inter-Colonial Railway, which was intended to link Nova Scotia to central Canada and strengthen the newly established Confederation. In 1871 Fleming was offered the post that would change his life: Chief Engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. With the daunting task of establishing a railway that would span the country and open the west to settlement, Fleming collected a team and led a surveying expedition across the country to determine the route for the railway. One of the members of his team was George Monro Grant, later the Principal of Queen's and a good friend of Fleming's. It was on this expedition that Grant wrote his much celebrated book, Ocean to Ocean. This surveying mission across Canada gave Fleming the idea for a standard system of time zones. It was Fleming who proposed the system we use today, which was adopted in 1884, and he is known for this as the "Father of Standard Time".

With his expedition completed, Sir Sandford Fleming was the foremost railway engineer in Canada. He resigned from the CPR in 1880, when the government turned the railway over to private interests. He continued to contribute as a consultant, however, and devoted his boundless energy to new projects as well. Fleming was a driving force behind the laying of a telegraph cable from Canada to Australia, and was a voice for modernization in many areas of society.

When Queen's was looking for a new Chancellor after the death of Rev. John Cook, there were many impressive men on the list of potentials. Sir John A. Macdonald himself, Canada's first Prime Minister, was considered for the post, but in the end Grant's influence won out and his good friend Sandford Fleming was elected in 1880. During his years at Queen's, Fleming was always a staunch supporter of the University and played a pivotal role in increasing the importance of science at Queen's. He made several generous donations, including the money to establish a chair in physics, and used his influence to help in the many fundraising campaigns run by Queen's in those days. The Domesday Book was originally his suggestion, and the tradition was carried on for many years. He also was one of Grant's main supporters in convincing the constituency of the University to support the plan for secularization.

Sir Sandford Fleming was knighted in 1897, and was re-elected to the position of the Chancellorship time and time again. During his 35 year term he became a veritable institution at Queen's, and only his death in 1915 could put an end to his association with the University. Fleming Hall is named in his honor.


Douglas Mill Jemmett
A Queen's graduate, Jemmett was a sportsman and a teacher, a soldier and a scholar. He was a professor of electrical engineering at Queen's from 1920-1960, and Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1924-1960.

Harold Huton Stewart (1903-1988)
Harold Huton Stewart was a professor of electrical engineering from 1929-1973, and the Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1960-1967. He was also the technical director of the Queen's radio station for much of his time here.

Harold Stockwell Pollock
Harold Stockwell Pollock was a professor of electrical engineering from 1937 to 1974, and served as Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science from 1963-1969.