The first definitive record of Angus Fleming is his marriage to Margaret Lawson on 28 April 1826 in the Parish of Govan, Lanarkshire. It is very probable that he is the Angus Fleming who was born in the nearby parish of Cambuslang on 29 June 1800 to James Fleeming and Mary Sinclair. Angus was not named after a Fleming forebear, because he is the first person named Angus Fleming whose baptism is recorded in Scotland's records. He was probably named after his maternal grandfather, Angus Sinclair.
Angus came from a large family of at least ten children. His mother, Mary Sinclair, was from Blantyre (just 5 kilometers from where Angus was born in Cambuslang). The first seven children in the family were born at Blantyre, where Angus' father James worked as a tailor. Three more children (including Angus) were born after the family moved to Cambuslang.
Angus married Margaret Lawson at nearby Govan on 28 April 1826. She may be the Margaret Lawson who was baptised at nearby Barony on 17 February 1799, daughter to William Lawson and Jean Alexander who had married at Glasgow on 29 April 1794.
Angus's wife Margaret gave birth to a son, Angus, on 11 July 1831. Their son was baptised in the parish of Cambuslang on 7 August 1831. The couple had at least one other son and two daughters, but their birth details are obscure. Angus was the only one of their children to survive to adulthood.
A series of tragedies struck the small family over the next few years. The first of these to be recorded was the death of their daughter who was buried on 13 May 1834. It is not clear when she was born or what her name was but, as the eldest daughter, she may have been named Jean after her mother's mother, Jean Alexander.
Worse was to come three years later when Angus himself died and was buried on 30 April 1837. He was described in the Cambuslang parish Mortcloth Money book as "poor" and given a pauper's burial.
His widow, Margaret, was left to raise the three remaining young children without the main breadwinner. No doubt times were tough; struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. This seems to have had an adverse affect on the health of the children, two of whom died in 1838. A son (who may have been named William) was given a pauper's burial on 7 September and another daughter (who may have been named Mary after Angus' mother, Mary Sinclair) was given a pauper's burial on 26 October.
Angus' widow, Margaret Lawson, subsequently married John Currie (a widower with four children) at nearby Rutherglen. She arranged for Angus' only surviving child (Angus junior) to become an apprentice to James Landles, a wagoner.