He was born in Rutherglen near Glasgow on 11 February 1877, the son of John Fleming Writer to the Signet and his wife, Isabella Wark Pinkerton.

He was on active service with the Cameronians (he had originally been commissioned into the volunteer battalion of the Highland Light Infantry) during World War I, for which he was awarded the Military Cross and the Belgian Croix de Guerre.

[6] He was appointed to the Court of Session bench on 19 December 1925,[7] with the judicial title Lord Fleming.

[9] It defined a public school as a member of the Governing Bodies Association or the Headmasters' Conference.

Based on the recommendations of this report, the Education Act 1944 offered a new status to endowed grammar schools receiving a grant from central government.