Frederic Lang

Sir Frederic William Lang (1852 – 5 March 1937) was a New Zealand politician, from 1909 a member of the Reform Party, he was the eighth Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 1913 to 1922.

Early life

Lang was born in Blackheath, Kent, England, in 1852. He was the youngest of six children born to Oliver William Lang and Louisa Lang (née Briggs). His father, a Master Shipwright of HM Dockyard, Chatham and Lieutenant colonel of the Royal Dockyard Brigade, died in 1868 and his mother also died in 1869. In 1872 Lang emigrated to New Zealand, aged 19, and settled as a farmer in Tuhikaramea close to the Waipā River.

In 1878 and again in 1880-82 Lang played for the Waikato District rugby team as a forward along with playing for a Civilians side, Ngahinepouri, Ōhaupō, Te Awamutu and Waipā teams. He played cricket and was captain of the Ngahinepouri side, played for Alexandra and was a member of the Waikato Cricket Association. He played football and represented the Auckland Province in 1880.

Around 1906, he sold his farm and moved north to Onehunga. He never married.

Political career

Lang's political career started with his election to the Tuhikaramea Road Board. He was elected onto the Waipa County and became its chairman for six years. He also belonged to the Waikato Charitable Aid Board.

He was the Member of Parliament for Waipa from 1893 to 1896; then Waikato from 1896 to 1905 when he was defeated; then Manukau from 6 December 1906 until 1922, when he was defeated. He was Chairman of Committees from 1912 to 1913. He then became Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1913 to 1922.

In 1913 as speaker, in response to filibusting by Āpirana Ngata, Lang introduced a rule that MPs who could speak in English must not speak te reo Māori and by 1920 Parliament no longer employed translators. The situation was reversed in the 1980s with the Māori Renaissance and the Maori Language Act 1987.

He was knighted in 1916. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1924 and served for one term until 1931. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

Death

He died at his home in Onehunga on 5 March 1937.

Notes

• Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1925) [First published in 1908]. Who's who in New Zealand and the western Pacific (2nd ed.). Masterton: Guy Scholefield.
• Wilson, Jim (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC .
• Wood, G. A. (1996) [First published in 1987]. Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2nd ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. pp. 95, 114. ISBN 1-877133-00-0.