Robert Fleming (financier)

Robert Fleming
Born	Template:Birth date Dundee, Scotland
Died	July 31, 1933(1933-07-31) (aged 88)
Occupation(s)	Financier, benefactor
Known for	Founder of Robert Fleming & Co., Scottish American Investment Company

Robert Melvin Fleming (17 March 1845 – 31 July 1933) was a prominent Scottish financier and benefactor. He established the merchant banking firm Robert Fleming & Co.

Early life

Fleming was born in Dundee in 1845, where his father worked as a supervisor in a jute mill.

Career

Starting at the age of 13, Fleming joined the textile company Messrs Edward Baxter and Son, advancing to become Baxter’s personal clerk by 21. During this period, he developed significant knowledge overseeing the firm's investments in the United States.

In 1873, he founded the Scottish American Investment Company, recognized as Scotland’s inaugural investment trust. Subsequently, he created the London-based merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., which operated for more than a century and supported projects such as the Fleming Collection of Scottish art.

Fleming was a contemporary of J. P. Morgan and maintained professional ties with Jacob Schiff of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., earning respect as a transatlantic financier and specialist in American railroad funding. Although his acquisition of the insolvent Algoma Steel in Ontario in 1908 was not entirely successful, he collaborated with James Hamet Dunn, who eventually took control of the company.

In 1903, Fleming acquired the Joyce Grove estate located in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, and commissioned architect C. E. Mallows to design a new residence there in 1908.

By the early 1900s, Fleming had become one of Europe’s wealthiest individuals, with Robert Fleming & Co. standing among the few independent British investment firms based in London.

Philanthropy

Fleming contributed generously to Dundee and University College, financing projects such as the Fleming Gymnasium (opened in 1905), which presently houses Forensic Medicine. He also donated £155,000 toward improving housing conditions for workers, leading to the development of the Fleming Gardens Estate, marked by a plaque at Clepington Road and Hindmarsh Avenue.

Personal life

He was the father of Valentine and Philip Fleming, and grandfather to novelist Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond novels, as well as writer Peter Fleming. His younger sibling, Sir John Fleming, served as Lord Provost of Aberdeen before becoming a Member of Parliament.

Death

Fleming passed away in 1933 and was laid to rest at St. Bartholomew's Church in Nettlebed. His estate was valued at around £2.17 million at that time (equivalent to a substantially larger sum today).

External links

• The Fleming Collection