George Fleming (1833–1901) was a Scottish veterinary surgeon and anti-vivisectionist. He was a prolific writer, and supported the passing of the
Veterinary Surgeons Act 1881, which regulated the profession, in his time as President of the
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Life
He was born in
Glasgow on 11 March 1833, and when still young moved with his father to Manchester, where both of them worked as
farriers for veterinary surgeon. A Manchester veterinary surgeon, John Lawson, sent him to
Dick's College in
Edinburgh. He took medals and prizes, and in 1855 obtained the certificate of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, at that time a recognised veterinary diploma. At the end of the year he entered the army veterinary service.
Fleming served through the
Crimean War. In 1860 he volunteered for the
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...
, and was present at the
Third Battle of Taku Forts and the surrender of
Beijing, receiving for his services a medal with two clasps. In 1866 he obtained the diploma of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and in 1867 served with the army in Syria and Egypt. On his return he spent some years with the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
at
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
. In 1879 he was appointed inspecting veterinary surgeon at the
War Office, and in 1883 principal veterinary surgeon to the army. In 1887 he was made C.B. and in 1890 he retired from the army.
Fleming became a vice-president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1867, a year after his admission, and a member of council in 1868. He was elected president in 1880. Agitation for an act of parliament to restrict the title of veterinary surgeon to the diploma-holders of the College had become acute, and he helped securing the passage through parliament of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1881, which imposed a penalty on unqualified persons who used the title of veterinary surgeon. He was then re-elected president for three years in succession (1881–4), and again in 1886–7.
In 1883 Fleming received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the
University of Glasgow and he was appointed CB in the
1887 Golden Jubilee Honours
The Golden Jubilee Honours for the British Empire were announced on 21 June 1887 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria on 20 June 1887.
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arra ...
. He gave his library of 900 books to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1900. He died on 13 April 1901 at Higher Leigh,
Combe Martin, North Devon, his residence in later life.
Opposition to vivisection
Fleming was an anti-
vivisectionist. In 1866, his essay ''Vivisection: Is it Necessary or Justifiable?'' won an
RSPCA prize. It was republished as ''Vivisection: A Prize Essay'' in 1871 by the Woman's branch of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Fleming's essay was translated into German and was influential to anti-vivisectionists in Europe. It inspired
Elpis Melena
Elpis Melena (1818–1899, born as Marie Espérance von Schwartz) was a German writer.
Daughter of a Hamburg banker, she was born in England and spent much of her early life in Italy and England. She was well known in connection with the moveme ...
to write an anti-vivisection novel.
[Linzey, Andrew. (2013). ''The Global Guide to Animal Protection''. University of Illinois Press. p. 13. ]
Works
While Fleming was in China he made an expedition beyond the
Great Wall, which he described in ''Travels on Horseback in Manchu Tartary'' (1865). He was a voluminous writer, contributing to professional journals and general reviews. His published works included:
1866.
* ''Horse-Shoes and Horse-Shoeing'', 1869.
''Vivisection: A Prize Essay'' 1871.
* ''Animal Plagues: their History, Nature, and Prevention'', vol. i. 1871; vol. ii. 1882.
* ''Practical Horse-Shoeing'', 1872; 10th edit. 1900.
* ''Rabies and Hydrophobia'', 1872.
* ''A Manual of Veterinary Sanitary Science and Policy'', 2 vols. 1875.
''Vivisection and the Diseases of Animals'' 1882.
* ''The Influence of Heredity and Contagion in the Propagation of Tuberculosis'', 1883.
* ''Operative Veterinary Surgery'', vol. i. 1884.
* ''The Practical Horse-Keeper'', 1886.
* ''A Text Book of Veterinary Obstetrics'', 1878; 2nd edit. 1896.
He translated from the French
Auguste Chauveau
Jean-Baptiste "Auguste" Chauveau Fellow of the Royal Society, ForMemRS (23 November 1827 – 4 January 1917) was a French professor and veterinarian.
Life
Born in Villeneuve-la-Guyard, he received his education at the École nationale vétérinai ...
's ''Comparative Anatomy of the Domesticated Animals'' (1873; 2nd edit. 1891), and from
Louis Georges Neumann
Louis Georges Neumann (22 October 1846 – 28 June 1930) was a French veterinary parasitologist who specialized in ticks. He was a professor at the Veterinary School in Toulouse.
Neumann was born in Paris and was orphaned at a young age. He studie ...
's ''Parasites and Parasitical Diseases of the Domesticated Animals'' (1892; 2nd edit. 1905).
Family
Fleming was three times married:
# to Alice, daughter of J. Peake of Atherstone in 1863;
# to Susan, daughter of W. Solomon of Upchurch, Kent, in 1878;
# to Anna, daughter of Colonel R. D. Pennefather of Kilbracken, co. Leitrim, who survived him and afterwards remarried.
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, George
1833 births
1901 deaths
19th-century British translators
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Animal welfare workers
Anti-vivisectionists
Companions of the Order of the Bath
People in health professions from Glasgow
Scottish animal welfare scholars
Scottish non-fiction writers
Scottish translators
Scottish travel writers
Scottish veterinarians
Translators from French
Translators from German
Writers from Glasgow