GIBSON FLEMING, James Randolph MBE 1958-2025
Richard R
From the Telegraph of 16 Oct 2025: GIBSON FLEMING James Randolf MBE DL died aged 67 on Saturday 11th October. Beloved husband of Fiona and father of Hector, William and Olivia. There will be a private family funeral. A memorial service will be held at Ranston on Friday 21st November at 1.30 p.m.
He was s of William Harry GIBSON FLEMING d 1981 and Selina Littlehales 1925-2010 d of Sir Randolph Littlehales BAKER 4th Bt and Elsie Burrell. He m Fiona Lucy b 1962 reg Q3 Wilts d of Robert Seymour DON 1932-2018 (gt gs of Vice Adm Henry George SEYMOUR 1818-69 gt gs of 1st Marquess of HERTFORD 1718-94 and Lady Isabella FITZROY 1726-82 d of 2nd Duke of GRAFTON 1683-1757 gs of King CHARLES II, etc etc) of Elmham House, Dereham, Norfolk by his 1955 m reg Q3 Norfolk to Judith H HOLMES b 1934 reg Q2 Nofolk, and had two sons and a dau as above.
News of his elder son Hector’s marriage and issue: https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/tRs4klFuQBY/m/NNc5gdD-AgAJ
News of his younger son William’s engagement: https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/B9zHAHwmu_0/m/o2yCny0MBQAJ
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Obit in the Telegraph - James Gibson Fleming, Dorset landowner, intrepid aviator and rural broadband entrepreneur – obituary
James Gibson Fleming, Dorset landowner, intrepid aviator and rural broadband entrepreneur
Starved of signal in his farm office, he ‘got a couple of Wi-Fi dishes, pointed them at each other, and bounced a signal across. It worked’
James Gibson Fleming, who has died aged 67, was a Dorset landowner and community leader who solved the problem of inadequate local broadband coverage by founding his own highly successful internet business.
A man of action with an instinctive disdain for authority, Gibson Fleming met every challenge with the catchphrase, “Can’t be done? Says who?” Having inherited the beautiful Ranston estate between Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum at the age of 22, he devoted the rest of his life to its stewardship – alongside an exhaustive portfolio of business, charitable and sporting commitments, and intrepid pastimes [….]
James Randolf Gibson Fleming was born in Dorset on July 27 1958 to William “Lem” Gibson Fleming and his wife Selina, daughter of Sir Randolf Baker, 4th Bt, who was Conservative MP for North Dorset [….]
He was […] at various times chief executive of Hanford, an agricultural feeds business which he turned around from losses, and a director of several other ventures. Tackling voluntary and business undertakings with the same focus and energy, he identified the central theme of all his work as rural resilience, love of the land and simply making things work better.
He was also chairman of Cancer Care Dorset – for which he oversaw a merger with the Joseph Weld hospice in Dorchester – and a long-serving trustee of the Talbot Village Trust which developed an “innovation district” in Bournemouth. He was Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset for 14 years.
On the sporting front, Gibson Fleming was master and chairman of the Portman Hunt, chairman for six years of the CLA Game Fair and long-time president of his village cricket club [….]
He also found more time to enjoy the family’s second home, on the isle of Mull. He was appointed MBE in the King’s birthday honours this year and the investiture was brought forward because of his advancing illness; he continued working until two days before his death.
James Gibson Fleming married, in 1986, Fiona Don, who survives him with their children Hector, who now runs Wessex Internet, William and Olivia.
James Gibson Fleming, born July 27 1958, died October 11 2025