HISTORY OF THE LANGE NAME :

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This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon and Irish origin, and has two possible sources, each with its own meaning and derivation. In the Anglo-Saxon case it originated as a descriptive nickname for a tall person, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "lang", "long" meaning long or tall. As an Irish surname, it originated as an Anglicization of the Gaelic "O'Longain", composed of the elements "O", male descendant of, plus "Longain" a personal name probably derived from "long", tall (as above), or possibly from the homonymous "long", a ship (and so originally a byname for a seafarer).

The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 10th Century (see below), and other early recordings include: Leofwine Lange, who was noted in the 1070 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and Berard Long, who appeared in the Feudal Documents from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk (1121 - 1148). In the modern idiom the surname has many variant spellings including Lang, Lange, Long and Lung. One of the earliest settlers in the New World was Henry Long, aged 21 yrs., who departed from the port of London aboard the "Hopewell", bound for the Barbados, in February 1634.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Aetheric thes Langa, which was dated 972, in "Old English Bynames", Northamptonshire, during the reign of King Edgar of England, 959 - 975. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Our LANGE family including WALKER Small numbers by a name refer to personal number in listing eg ERIC ROY ^2 LANGE - see 2

GENERATION ONE :

1. ~ ~ ~ HERMANN HENRICH LANGE was born Abt. 1841 in Gross Sutrom, Hanover, Germany. Herman married ADA TAYLOR in 1871. Ada was born Abt. 1855 in Nottinghamshire, England. Herman was naturalized on 26 August 1887. His place of residence was listed as Thames and his occupation Tailor.

Children of HERMANN LANGE and ADA (LANGE) included:

JOHN HENRY ² LANGE, born 1872 in Thames, New Zealand.

HERMANN BYRON LANGE, born 1875.

WILLIAM GEORGE ³ LANGE, born 1877.

CARL FREDERICK LANGE, born 1879. Carl married EVA MAY CLARK in 1905.

VIOLET MAY LANGE, born 1881. Violet married HOWARD WILFRED DANBY in 1906.

ROY FRANCIS HOWARD LANGE, born Abt. 1886 in Thames; died December 1888. Roy was buried at Shortland Cemetery in Thames (Public Plot 0812)

Hermann died in July 1907 and Ada died in January 1928. They were both buried at Shortland Cemetery in Thames (Public Plot 0811)

GENERATION TWO :

2. ~ ~ ~ JOHN HENRY (Jack) LANGE (HERMANN) was born in 1872 in Thames, New Zealand and was the son of HERMAN LANGE and ADA (surname unknown). John was a Tailor in Thames, New Zealand. He married MARY WALKER in 1898. Mary was born on 10 December 1871 at Shortland, Thames, New Zealand and was the daughter of WILLIAM THOMAS WALKER and MARY SYBIL BRAITHWAITE. John died on 8 April 1932 in Thames and was buried at Shortland Cemetery in Thames (Public Plot 4409). Mary died on 16 March 1959 in Otahuhu, Auckland.

Refer to the WALKER family for more information about Mary’s family.

Children of JOHN LANGE and MARY WALKER were:

ERIC ROY ⁴ LANGE, born Abt. 1899.

HAROLD BRAITHWAITE ⁵ LANGE.

3. ~ ~ ~ WILLIAM GEORGE LANGE (HERMANN) was born in 1877. He was a Tailor in Victoria Street West, Auckland. William married ELSIE EDITH FERGUSSON in 1913.

Children of WILLIAM LANGE and ELSIE (LANGE) included:

WILBUR LANGE, born Abt. 1914. Wilbur served with the NZ Air Force during World War Two. He died on 20 August 1944 and was buried at Bourail Memorial in New Caledonia. (Refer to my Roll of Honour for more information)

GENERATION THREE:

4. ~ ~ ~ ERIC ROY LANGE (HERMANN > JOHN) was born about 1899 and was the eldest son of JOHN LANGE and MARY WALKER. Eric graduated from Otago Medical School in 1923 and in 1931 opened his medical practice in Otahuhu, Auckland. He ran this through until 1959 when he became a Medical Inspector for South Auckland Health District. During his long medical career he was also the Chief Obstetrician and Honourary Physician at St Mary's Home in Otahuhu and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh. Eric was also a foundation member Otahuhu Rotary Club.

Eric married PHOEBE FYSHREID around 1936 and they lived at the junction of Great South & Mangere Roads, Otahuhu. Phoebe was born in 1909 in Tasmania, Australia and was a Nurse. She arrived in New Zealand in 1933. Eric died on 15 August 1970 in Kohimarama, Auckland. Phoebe died on 5 June 1990 also in Auckland.

Children of ERIC LANGE and PHOEBE FUSHREID were:

DAVID RUSSEL ⁶ LANGE, born 4 August 1942 in Otahuhu, Auckland.

MARGARET LANGE

PETER ⁷ LANGE

ANNETTE LANGE

5. ~ ~ ~ HAROLD BRAITHWAITE LANGE (HERMANN > JOHN) was born in 1901 and was the second son of JOHN LANGE and MARY WALKER. Like his brother Eric, Harold became a doctor and practiced in Pukemiro. He spent many years in the Pacific Islands including the islands of Niue, Tonga and Samoa.

Harold married MARGUERITA GEORGINA GREY KING in 1928 and they had three sons. Rita died in tragic circumstances in Apia, Samoa and following her death Harold joined the army. He served in Egypt, Greece and Crete during World War Two. After the war he set up practice in Pahiatua in the Tararu District of NZ. Harold died on 3 November 1964.

GENERATION FOUR:

6. ~ ~ ~ DAVID RUSSEL LANGE (HERMANN > JOHN > ERIC) was born on 4 August 1942 in Otahuhu, Auckland the eldest son of ERIC LANGE and PHOEBE FYSHREID. David married NAOMI CRAMPTON on 3 August 1968 at Barnby Gate Methodist Church in Newark, Nottinghamshire and they raised a family of three children.

David was elected the Leader of the NZ Labour Party on 3 February 1983 and was Prime Minister of NZ between 26 July 1984 and 8 August 1989.

David and Naomi divorced and David remarried in January 1992. A daughter was born in 1996.

Around 2003 David was diagnosed with Amyloidosis which is a disorder of plasma cells in the bone marrow. He died on 13 August 2005.

Refer to NZ History Online (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/people/david-lange) for a more details about David’s life. He also wrote an Autobiography in 2005 “David Lange - My Life” published by Viking / Penguin Group NZ

7. ~ ~ ~ PETER LANGE (HERMANN > JOHN > ERIC) is the younger brother of David. He is a well-known Potter and has won many Awards, including a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Award, and demonstrates and tutors around the world.

Refer to NZ Potters Online (http://www.nzpotters.com/PottersPages/Potter.cfm?memberID=396&regionName=Auckland&action=li) for more details about Peter’s work.

Please note that in keeping to genealogy publishing protocol I have not included information about later generations including living persons. If you have a family connection please contact me for further information.

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