Frederic Lang

The Honourable Sir Frederic William Lang
8th Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office 1913–1922
Prime Minister	William Massey
Preceded by	Arthur Guinness
Succeeded by	Charles Statham
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Waipa
In office 1893 – 1896
Preceded by	In abeyance
Succeeded by	In abeyance
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Waikato
In office 1896 – 1905
Preceded by	Alfred Cadman
Succeeded by	Henry Greenslade
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Manukau
In office 1906–1922
Preceded by	Matthew Kirkbride
Succeeded by	William Joseph Jordan
Personal details
Born	1852 Blackheath, Kent, England
Died	5 March 1937 Onehunga, New Zealand
Political party	Reform

Sir Frederic William Lang (1852 – 5 March 1937) was a New Zealand politician, initially an independent conservative, then from 1914 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.^[1] He emigrated to New Zealand as a young man and settled in Tuhikaramea near present-day Temple View. He played football and represented the Auckland Province. He never married.^[1]

Around 1906, he sold his farm and moved to Onehunga.^[1]

Political career

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1893–1896	12th	Waipa		Independent
1896–1899	13th	Waikato		Independent
1899–1902	14th	Waikato		Independent
1902–1905	15th	Waikato		Independent
1906–1908	16th	Manukau		Independent
1908–1911	17th	Manukau		Independent
1911–1914	18th	Manukau		Independent
1914–1919	19th	Manukau		Reform
1919–1922	20th	Manukau		Reform

Lang's political career started with his election to the Tuhikaramea Road Board. He was elected onto the Waipa County and became its chairman. He also belonged to the Waikato Charitable Aid Board.^[1]

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.^[2] He was Chairman of Committees from 1912 to 1913.^[3] He then became Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1913 to 1922.^[4]

In 1913 as speaker, in response to filibusting by Apirana 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.^[5]

He was knighted in 1916.^[2] He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1924 and served for one term until 1931.^[6] In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.^[7]

Death

He died at his home in Onehunga on 5 March 1937.^[8]

Notes

1. "Sir Frederic Lang". The Evening Post. CXXIII (54). 5 March 1937. p. 10. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
2. Wilson 1985, p. 211.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 252.
4. Wilson 1985, p. 250.
5. "Launch of Simultaneous Interpretation in the House". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
6. Wilson 1985, p. 157.
7. "Official jubilee medals". The Evening Post. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
8. "Deaths". Auckland Star. 5 March 1937. p. 1. Retrieved 16 November 2013.

References

• Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1925) [First published in 1908]. Who's who in New Zealand and the western Pacific (2nd ed.). Masterton: Guy Scholefield.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
• 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.