James Kidd Flemming

For the Olympic sprinter, see Jimmy Flemming.

James Kidd Flemming
14th Premier of New Brunswick
In office October 16, 1911 – December 17, 1914
Monarch	George V
Lieutenant Governor	Lemuel John Tweedie Josiah Wood
Preceded by	J. Douglas Hazen
Succeeded by	George J. Clarke
Member of Parliament for Victoria—Carleton
In office October 29, 1925 – February 10, 1927
Preceded by	Thomas W. Caldwell
Succeeded by	Albion R. Foster
MLA for Carleton
In office January 14, 1900 – December 17, 1914 Serving with Hugh H. McCain, Benjamin Franklin Smith, George W. Upham, George L. White, Stephen B. Appleby, Wendell P. Jones, Donald Munro
Preceded by	Charles L. Smith
Succeeded by	Benjamin Franklin Smith
Personal details
Born	(1868-04-27)April 27, 1868 Lower Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada
Died	February 10, 1927(1927-02-10) (aged 58) McKenzie Corner, New Brunswick, Canada
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Sarah Helena Flemming ​ ​ (m. 1890)​
Relations	Hugh John Flemming (son)
Children	3 sons, 2 daughters
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 1911-1914. 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 Canadian House of Commons 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.

References

• "James Kidd Flemming". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
• Government of New Brunswick biographies of Premiers
• "Hon. J. K. Flemming Died This Afternoon". The Ottawa Journal. 10 Feb 1927. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved 24 December 2016 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

• Arthur T. Doyle, Front Benches and Back Rooms: A story of corruption, muckraking, raw partisanship and political intrigue in New Brunswick, Toronto: Green Tree Publishing, 1976.