Valentine Fleming

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

Early life and political career Fleming was born in Newport-on-Tay, Fife, 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 1916 they built a shooting lodge at Arnisdale, near Glenelg in Inverness-shire in the Scottish Highlands.

Military service At the outbreak of the First World War 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 also wrote to a close friend, Winston Churchill, in 1914 (the following is an excerpt):

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. His will was proven on 6 November, with his estate amounting to £265,596 19s. 5d. (roughly equivalent to £ in ).

Major Fleming is buried at Templeux-le-Guérard British Cemetery, near the village of Templeux-le-Guérard. He is commemorated on Panel 8 of the Parliamentary War Memorial in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs who died during World War I to be named on that memorial. Additionally, he is one of 19 MPs who died in the war 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 his life and death.

Fleming is also remembered in a memorial window by G.E.R. Smith and adjacent wall plaque at St Bartholomew's Church in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire. The window, installed in 1945, also commemorates Fleming's eldest son, Captain Michael Valentine Fleming, who was killed in action in France in 1940. Its two lights show St Valentine and St Michael Archangel.

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

Legacy In 1914, shortly before leaving 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".