Did you turn your clocks back on November 1, or do you live in a location that has abandoned or never adopted the twice-yearly clock change? Either way, this seems an appropriate time to feature Sandford Fleming, Empire Builder. a 1915 biography by Lawrence J. Burpee (1885-1946) about the Canadian engineer who helped establish the system of standard time zones used around the world.

Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada in 1845. He became a prominent railway engineer, working on the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway. In those days, every town kept its own local time, based on the position of the sun. This became a problem as railway travel expanded, since railway schedules had to account for the different local times along a route.

Fleming proposed dividing the world into twenty-four time zones, each differing from its neighbour by one hour. He presented his ideas in 1879 and spent several years promoting their adoption. The International Meridian Conference of 1884 helped establish Greenwich as the world’s prime meridian and led the way for the system we use today.

Fleming had many other accomplishments. He designed the United Province of Canada’s first postage stamp, the Three Penny Beaver issued in 1951. He also engaged in a number of business ventures, promoted the idea of a telecommunications cable from Canada to Australia, and authored books on electoral reform. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1897.

Note that standard time and daylight saving time are different concepts. Fleming’s system provided a way of coordinating time around the world, while daylight saving time, a practice of shifting clocks seasonally, was adopted widely much later. With some governments (including provinces within Canada) opting not to change their clocks, the debate over which system to use is likely to continue.

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