Fleet was born to John George Fleet, a London wholesale sugar dealer, and Esther Faithfull of
Headley, Surrey, England, in 1847. He was educated at the
Merchant Taylors' School in London. His aunt,
Emily Faithfull, was an activist and dramatic reader.
Early career and interests Fleet was appointed to the
Indian Civil Service (ICS) in the year 1865, and to prepare himself for this, he studied
Sanskrit at
University College London. In 1867, he moved to the
Bombay Presidency (then a British province in western India) and soon held the posts of Assistant Collector and then Magistrate, Educational Inspector, in the Southern Division (1872), Assistant Political Agent in
Kolhapur and the Southern Maratha Country (1875), and Collector and Magistrate (1882).
Eminence Fleet was soon establishing a reputation through his papers on the epigraphy and history of Southern India in fora such as the
Bombay Asiatic Society and
The Indian Antiquary, founded in 1872 (he later edited it from the 14th to 20th editions (1885–92)). He also published his works on the
Pali, Sanskrit and old Canarese Inscriptions for the
India Office in 1878. Fleet became the first epigraphist of the Government of India when such a post was created in 1883. After three years as the epigraphist, he was appointed as the Collector and Magistrate of Sholapur in 1886.
Retirement and death Fleet retired from the ICS in 1897 and returned to England to settle in
Ealing. He was now able to devote his full time to his epigraphical studies and continued with his valuable contributions to the
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and
Epigraphia Indica. In 1906, he became the Honorary Secretary of the Society and was awarded its "gold medal" in 1912. Before his death in 1917 at age 69, he published the
Ballads of the Peasantry with its music in the
Indian Antiquary. ==Fellowships==