Birth Born on August 6, 1881 in Ayrshire, a remote village of Scotland, Alexander Fleming was the seventh child among the eight children born in the Fleming family. Hugh Fleming was a farmer, who married twice. He had four children by his first wife. He married again at the age of 60 to Grace Morton, who bore him four children. Grace managed to bring about unison among all the children. Alexander, fondly called Alec, was the third child of this union. By the time of Alec's birth, his father was quite an aged man, and had suffered from stroke. He was worried about the safety of his family's future. He died when Alexander was quite young.

Childhood

Alec had a normal Scottish childhood, with a country house and a large farm around. He and his brothers would enjoy outdoor activities whenever they were not at school. They used to play shooting games without guns and used to go hunting without them, but accompanied by an old dog. It was a pact agreed upon by the brothers that whoever laid his hand first on the hind legs of the animal was the rightful master of the animal. They also invented their own indigenous methods for hunting.

It was not all play for the young Fleming boys. They made a little money by selling peewit's eggs to the traveling salesmen. The farm life had its own charm over the little boy and he enjoyed every aspect of it, including sheep-shearing. When he grew older, he even took part in sheep-shearing competitions.

Education

Alec underwent his primary education at Scotland. The school was run by a single teacher, who taught the children of all the ages. The Fleming children had to travel a mile's distance to reach there. On sunny days they used to run barefooted towards the school, but on frozen days, their mother used to give them piping hot potatoes to keep their hands warm during the journey. The teacher was a sensible woman, who many times took the children to the river bank and used to play with them. Thus, Alec had education of subjects as well as of nature.

Next, he moved to Darvel school for further education. This school was about four miles away from their farmhouse. He used to commute on foot everyday. An incident happened during one of his daily journeys which changed his looks for the rest of his life, giving him a 'boxer's nose'. It so happened that while he was running down a corner he collided with another boy. His cartilage was broken. He returned home with a bleeding nose. But soon the blood stopped and it was not considered to call on a doctor. This accident gave him permanent image of a man 'with a boxer's nose'.

His further education took him farther away from his home, of course on foot. His mother and elder brothers decided to send him to Kilmarnock for higher education. This meant six miles travel on foot on Friday evenings and Monday mornings from his home to Newmiln, the nearest railway station from where he could catch a train to Kilmarnock. He continued this routine for about two years.