Gideon Scott Lang (1819–1880) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

born

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

pastoralist who was a key figure in the pioneer settlement of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

and the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

regions. Born on 25 January 1819 in Selkirk, Lang left school at 16. In 1839, his brothers migrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to take up land on the Saltwater (now Maribynong) River. Lang joined them two years later as a shepherd. Leaving his brothers to run a toll bridge and then a fishing business, he returned to his brothers, eventually squatting on land near

Buninyong Buninyong is a town 11 km from Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Midland Highway, south of Ballarat on the road to Geelong. Buninyong was proclaimed a town on 27 June 1851 on the same day as Winchelsea, Portarlington, ...

. In 1848, the brothers acquired land in the Riverina, eventually holding 30 miles of

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

frontage. The town of

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

on the Murrumbidgee, was originally known as Lang's Crossing Place. Lang explored southern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and in 1851, after obtaining information on the whereabouts of

Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (; 23 October 1813 – ), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's disappearanc ...

attempted to begin a search, but was restrained by drought. In 1854, Lang married Elizabeth Jane Cape, the sister of the schoolmaster

William Timothy Cape William Timothy Cape (25 October 1806 – 4 June 1863) was an early school master in Sydney, Australia; several of the Premier of New South Wales, Premiers of New South Wales attended his school. Cape was born at Walworth, London, Walworth, S ...

. He was elected to represent the Liverpool Plains and Gwydir in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

in 1856. On dissolution of the Assembly in 1857, Lang and his family toured Europe, meeting

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

in 1859 and returning to Australia in 1862. In 1863, Lang became the founding president of the Riverine Association, formed to promote the interests of

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

and to advocate the separation of the Riverina from New South Wales. He was the first chairman of directors of the

Commercial Bank of Australia The Commercial Bank of Australia Limited (CBA) was an Australian and New Zealand retail bank which operated from 1866 until it merged with the Bank of New South Wales, which was established in 1817, to form the Westpac Banking Corporation in ...

on its establishment in 1866. Late in his life, he was involved in the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879. Lang died on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Gideon 1819 births 1880 deaths 19th-century Australian farmers Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia People from the Riverina People from Selkirk, Scottish Borders People educated at Selkirk High School Colony of New South Wales politicians 19th-century squatters