Angus McLagan

Hon. Angus McLagan MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Riccarton
In office 1946 – 1956
Preceded by	Jack Watts
Succeeded by	Mick Connelly
Personal details
Born	1891 Mid Calder, Midlothian, Scotland
Died	4 September 1956 New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Sophie McLagan

Angus McLagan (1891 – 4 September 1956) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

A dour, squarely-built Scot, he was born in the Scottish village of Mid Calder, Midlothian, and left school at fourteen to work in the West Calder mines. He was self-educated and well-read, and could write shorthand (which was useful in demolishing the speeches of opponents). He was grim and aloft; his speeches were cold, logical and often bitter; and some civil servants and others thought he had the best brain in Cabinet.^[1]

Political career

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1946–1949	28th	Riccarton		Labour
1949–1951	29th	Riccarton		Labour
1951–1954	30th	Riccarton		Labour
1954–1956	31st	Riccarton		Labour

McLagan was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1942, and he resigned from it in 1946.^[2] During the war, he was Minister of National Service and Manpower.

He represented the Riccarton electorate from the 1946 general election to 1956, when he died. He was a cabinet minister from 1942 to 1949 in the First Labour Government.

Family history

McLagan was married to Sophie McLagan (her second marriage). They had two daughters (Cissie Agnes McLagan, Margaret Bridget McLagan) and two sons (Angus and John Campbell (Jock) McLagan).

The McLagan Family had a bach in the lower Boyle River area of the Lewis Pass in North Canterbury, which was built on a (crown peppercorn rental) lease property. The McLagan bach was moved and rebuilt by Jock McLagan on an upper plateau (just above the Boyle River) in the early 1970s. Often referred to as "the hut", the bach had been given the name of "Toad Hall" by J.C. McLagan. It formed the centre of McLagan and Sullivan family holidays for many years, subsequent along with the Dean's family (early Canterbury settlers). The Deans family also had a bach on the same river flat just above the Boyle River. Fishing and hunting were the main holiday pursuits of both families at the time.

Angus McLagan collected a large number of ex-parliamentary library books (which were officially discarded) and other records, primarily books written in Latin (e.g. Homer's travels and a leather bound copy of the Iliad printed in the early 19th century), which remained with Sophie McLagan until her death in 1979. Angus McLagan died one year to the day before the birth of his first grandchild (4 September 1957, John Angus Sullivan), first son of Cissie Agnes (née McLagan) and John Henry Sullivan (ex Middlesex, England) followed by Alastair Maurice Sullivan (1959) and Robyn Margaret Bridget Sullivan (1961).

References

1. Hobbs, Leslie (1967). The Thirty-Year Wonders. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs. pp. 82–85.
2. Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 80.

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). From the Cradle to the Grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00138-5.