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 Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England, in 1852. 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 The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Area The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both ...

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

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. Onehunga is a ...

Political career

Lang's political career started with his election to the Tuhikaramea Road Board. He was elected onto the

Waipa County Waipa may refer to: New Zealand * Waipa (New Zealand electorate), a former electorate * Waipa District, a territorial local authority * Waipā River, a waterway Elsewhere * World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, using the acronym WAI ...

and became its chairman. He also belonged to the Waikato Charitable Aid Board. He was the Member of Parliament for from

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

to 1896; then

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

from

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia ( Shostakovich's 11th Symphony ...

when he was defeated; then

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, so ...

from 6 December 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 A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

Āpirana Ngata Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have served in Parliament in the mid-20th century, and is also known for his work ...

, 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 The Māori renaissance is the revival in fortunes of the Māori of New Zealand beginning in the 1970s. Until 1914, and possibly later, the perception of the Māori race, although dying out, was capable and worthy of saving, but only within a Europ ...

and the

Maori Language Act 1987 The Māori Language Act 1987 was a piece of legislation passed by the Parliament of New Zealand that gave official language status to the Māori language (), and gave speakers a right to use it in legal settings such as courts. It also establish ...

. 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

on 5 March 1937.

Notes

References

* * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Frederic English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand Knights Bachelor Reform Party (New Zealand) MPs People from Blackheath, London Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council 1852 births 1937 deaths Reform Party (New Zealand) MLCs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1905 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1922 New Zealand general election New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates 19th-century New Zealand politicians