Leitch's rocket spaceflight description was first provided in his 1861 essay "A Journey Through Space", which was later published in his book God's Glory in the Heavens (1862).
After the grammar school at Greenock, he attended the University of Glasgow and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with highest honours in 1837.
He followed this with a Master of Arts the next year, and became observatory assistant to Professor John Pringle Nichol, and lectured on astronomy.
[2] Leitch stayed with the Kirk through the Disruption of 1843, when he was ordained and worked in the parish of Monimail, in the presbytery of Cupar for 16 years.
[2] In 1859, two trustees of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario came to Scotland to find a successor to the retiring principal.