Frederic Lang

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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