Major Valentine Fleming

Notes:

Major Valentine Fleming DSO (17 February 1882 – 20 May 1917) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament who was killed in World War I. He was the father of authors Peter Fleming and Ian Fleming who created the James Bond character.

Early years
Born in Newport-on-Tay, Fife, Fleming was the son of Sarah (née Hindmarsh) and Robert Fleming, a wealthy Scottish banker and founder of the merchant bank, Robert Fleming & Co. Fleming was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He married Evelyn Beatrice Sainte Croix Rose in London on 15 February 1906. Together they had four sons; adventurer and travel writer Peter (father of actress Lucy Fleming), novelist Ian (author of the James Bond novels), Richard (whose son is billionaire Adam Fleming), and Michael.

From 1906 to 1911, the family lived at Braziers Park in Ipsden, Oxfordshire. On his election to parliament, they moved to Pitt House on Hampstead Heath in 1910. He was a Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 to 1917. In 1914 they built a house at Arnisdale, near Kyle of Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands.

Military service
At the outbreak of World War I Valentine was a Captain in 'C' Squadron, Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars, a yeomanry regiment, having received his commission on 30 June 1908. After a month of training the regiment was sent to France on 22 September 1914.

He wrote a "brisk and breezy account" to a fellow officer in England in 1914 about the start of the war. Initially the regiment had little more than "a tour of the principal French watering places" followed by a fortnight hanging about Dunkirk and Saint-Omer ("Very dull"), but then on 30 October were told by General de Lisle to:

occupy a line of trenches on the right of Messines. This was disagreeable as projectiles of every variety were exploding with a disquieting regularity all over the ground of our advance. .... Off we went, over some very holding ground, three squadrons in a succession of rushes in extended lines, the regularity of which was still disturbed by the wire! (Never move without nippers on the Sam Browne belt!). Luckliy we had no man hit – I can’t think why – which put some heart into the men .... we began to wonder how to fix the bloody bayonets with which we had been issued two days previously. .... About 4.30 am they were relieved and marched back about two miles to get breakfast, v. hungry and sleepy . (But then De Lisle told them that the line had been broken, so) with empty bellies we become plodding up the usual wire-enclosed ploughed fields on the left of Messines, being pooped at by very high and wild rifle fire .... It was a very trying day for the men, they were d—-d hungry. (The line held, just; but Messines and its Ridge were taken, see Battle of Messines and First Battle of Ypres).
He also wrote to a close friend Winston Churchill in 1914 (the following is an excerpt):

Imagine a broad belt [of land], ten miles or so in width, stretching from the Channel to the German frontier near Basle, which is positively littered with the bodies of men…in which farms, villages, and cottages are shapeless heaps of blackened masonry; in which fields, roads and trees are pitted and torn and twisted by [artillery] shells...
Fleming was promoted to Major on 2 November 1914 and became the commanding officer of 'C' Squadron. He was appointed the second-in-command of the regiment in January 1916.

Fleming was killed by German shellfire at Gillemont Farm, near Épehy, Somme, France on 20 May 1917. For his service, Valentine was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 4 June 1917, having been previously twice mentioned in dispatches.

Fleming is buried at Templeux-le-Guérard British Cemetery, near the village of Templeux-le-Guérard. Fleming is commemorated on Panel 8 of the Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs that died during World War I to be named on that memorial. Fleming is one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber. A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style illuminated book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes a short biographical account of the life and death of Fleming.

Fleming's obituary in The Times was written by Churchill.

Legacy
In 1914, shortly before leaving England to fight in France, Valentine signed a will that left Pitt House and his effects to his wife Evelyn, most of his estate was left in trust to benefit their four sons and their future families. His wife Evelyn would have a generous income from the trust unless she remarried, in which case she would receive a reduced amount of £3000 per annum. Evelyn never remarried and felt it was a "bad will".

Valentine married Evelyn Beatrice Sainte Croix Rose on 15 Feb 1906 in St George Hanover Square, London. Evelyn (daughter of Captain George Alfred Sainte Croise Rose, J.P. and Beatrice Quain) was born on 10 Jan 1885 in St Mary Abbots Church, Kensington, London; died on 27 Jul 1964 in The Hotel Metropole, Kings Road, Brighton, Sussex. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He died on 1 October 1940 at age 27, from wounds received in action while a POW. He fought in the Second World War and gained the rank of Captain in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

Died:
Killed in Action

Michael married Letitia Blanche Borthwick on 28 Jul 1934 in Henley On Thames, Oxfordshire. Letitia (daughter of Malcolm Algernon Borthwick and Blanche Buckland Gorrie) was born on 10 Apr 1913; died in Feb 2003 in Hitchin and Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was an English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.

While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. His wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background, detail and depth of the James Bond novels.

Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952. It was a success, with three print runs being commissioned to cope with the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two short-story collections followed between 1953 and 1966. The novels revolved around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond was also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Fleming was married to Ann Charteris, who was divorced from the second Viscount Rothermere owing to her affair with the author. Fleming and Charteris had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously; other writers have since produced Bond novels. Fleming's creation has appeared in film twenty-six times, portrayed by seven actors.

Ian married Anne Geraldine Mary Charteris on 24 Mar 1952 in Jamaica. Anne was born on 19 Jun 1913 in Stanway, Gloucestershire; died on 12 Jul 1981 in Swindon, Wiltshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Dorothy Charmian Hermon-Hodge. Dorothy (daughter of Sir Roland Hermon Hermon-Hodge, 2nd Lord Wyfold and Dorothy Barbara Fleming) was born on 4 Jan 1913 in St George Hanover Square, London; died in Nov 2001 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: The Stables, Stonewall Park, Chiddingstone Hoath, Kent TN8 7DG
• Baptism: 1935, Woodcote, Oxfordshire

Notes:

Eldest son of Captain Michael Fleming (see Burke's 'Landed Gentry') who was killed in action at Dunkirk, and Letitia (nee Borthwick). Baptised at St. Leonard's Church, Woodcote 1935. Educated at Eton 1948-53.

National Service with Grenadiers 1954-55. Travelled throughout 1956, mostly Australia and New Zealand. 1957 started work with Robert Fleming & Co. Ltd., Merchant Bankers, of which he is now a Director; Director of other companies. Member of the Grocers' Company. Former Church Warden and Primary School Manager, presently Treasurer of the P.CC. and Chairman of the local Conservative Association.

Interests: gardening and antiquarian books. With his wife Elizabeth he runs a catalogue business in second-hand and antiquarian books.

Valentine married Elizabeth Helen Gibbs [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Matthew married Caroline Mary Buxton [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Harry married Heather Fell [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Catherine Danger Oram. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Nicola Miranda Guess [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]