Frederic Lang

The Honourable Sir Frederic 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	Bill Jordan
Personal details
Born	Frederic William Lang 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. 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.

Around 1906, he sold his farm and moved to Onehunga.

Political career

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.

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.

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.