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.

Sir Frederic Lang
8th Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
1913–1922
Prime MinisterWilliam Massey
Preceded byArthur Guinness
Succeeded byCharles Statham
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Waipa
In office
1893–1896
Preceded byIn abeyance
Succeeded byIn abeyance
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Waikato
In office
1896–1905
Preceded byAlfred Cadman
Succeeded byHenry Greenslade
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Manukau
In office
1906–1922
Preceded byMatthew Kirkbride
Succeeded byBill Jordan
Personal details
Born
Frederic William Lang

1852
Blackheath, Kent, England
Died5 March 1937
Onehunga, New Zealand
Political partyReform

Early life

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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

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New Zealand Parliament
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 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.[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

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

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d "Sir Frederic Lang". The Evening Post. Vol. CXXIII, no. 54. 5 March 1937. p. 10. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b 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

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  • 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.
Political offices
Preceded by Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives
1912–1913
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
1913–1922
Succeeded by
New Zealand Parliament
Vacant
Constituency recreated after abolition in 1890
Title last held by
John Bryce
Member of Parliament for Waipa
1893–1896
Vacant
Constituency abolished, recreated in 1954
Title next held by
Stan Goosman
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Waikato
1896–1905
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Manukau
1906–1922
Succeeded by