Editing Sandford Fleming (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Sir Sanford Fleming House, Brunswick St., Halifax, Nova Scotia.jpg|thumb|left|Sir Sandford Fleming House (1866–1871), Brunswick St., [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]]]]
In 1827, Fleming was born in [[Kirkcaldy, Fife]], Scotland<ref>{{cite web|title=Life at full speed: Artist, scientist and inventor|url=http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2010.html|website=sandfordfleming.ca|publisher=Canadian Railway Museum|access-date=January 7, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107170501/http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2010.html|archive-date=January 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> to Andrew and Elizabeth Fleming. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed as a surveyor and in 1845,<ref>{{cite web|title=Life at full speed: The apprentice|url=http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2011.html|website=sandfordfleming.ca|publisher=Canadian Railway Museum|access-date=January 7, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171457/http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2011.html|archive-date=January 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> at the age of 18, he immigrated with his older brother David to colonial [[Province of Canada|Canada]]. Their route took them through many cities of the Canadian colonies: [[Quebec City]], [[Montreal]], and [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]], before settling in [[Peterborough, Ontario]] with their cousins two years later in 1847. He qualified as a surveyor in Canada in 1849.<ref>{{cite web|title=Life at full speed: Finding a first job|url=http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2022.html|website=sandfordfleming.ca|publisher=Canadian Railway Museum|access-date=January 7, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171459/http://www.sandfordfleming.ca/en/f2022.html|archive-date=January 7, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 1849 he created the [[Royal Canadian Institute]] with several friends, which was formally incorporated on November 4, 1851. Although initially intended as a professional institute for surveyors and engineers it became a more general scientific society. In 1851 he designed the ''Threepenny Beaver'', the first Canadian postage stamp, for the [[Province of Canada]] (today's southern portions of Ontario and Quebec). Throughout this time he was fully employed as a [[surveying|surveyor]], mostly for the [[Grand Trunk Railway]]. His work for them eventually gained him the position as ''Chief Engineer'' of the [[Northern Railway of Canada]] in 1855, where he advocated the construction of [[iron]] [[bridge]]s instead of wood for safety reasons.

Fleming served in the 10th Battalion Volunteer Rifles of Canada (later known as the [[Royal Regiment of Canada]]) and was appointed to the rank of captain on January 1, 1862. He retired from the militia in 1865.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}