ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/21/2005 12 August 2005
Australian with 19th century India links remembered: Plaque unveiled in Mussoorie
Over 140 years after his death, a plaque in memory of Australia's earliest novelist, John Lang, who lived in India in the mid-19 th century, will be unveiled in Mussoorie on 15 August, India's Independence Day.
The commemoration could not have been better timed. Lang, writer, barrister, editor and traveller, was a friend of India and a friend of freedom. He represented Indians, including the Rani of Jhansi, in their legal fights against the East India Company - which did not earn him friends among the British authorities.
The plaque dedicated to Lang will be unveiled at Christ Church, Mussoorie - the oldest church in the Himalayas - in the presence of local community figures and a Australian High Commission representative. According to Revd Erik Templeton, the current priest, "the Church's 19 th century records show that Lang's funeral rites were performed by the then Christ Church chaplain. Today, nearly a century and a half after Lang's death, we have an active congregation keen on preserving this Church as an important part of the town's history, and we are delighted to be adding this memorial inscription to the story this Church building has to tell of the past," he said.
Lang's grave was discovered by Mussoorie resident and eminent author, Ruskin Bond in 1964, a century after his death. Lang was also a writer, who wrote eleven novels, plays, short stories and a travel book. He is considered to be Australia's first novelist.
"For a long time John Lang has been a forgotten figure but now he is enjoying wider interest, both in Australia and India," said John Fisher, spokesman for the Australian High Commission.
Lang reflected the love of freedom and adventure as well as frustration with authority that has come to characterise the Australian character. The developing Australian trait to challenge injustice - to seek a "fair go" - was apparent in Lang's defence of Indians seeking legal redress in British-controlled India.
A part of the credit for this revival in interest in Lang must go to an Australian diplomat, Mr Rory Medcalf, who researched Lang while on a posting to India, and to fellow Australian and researcher of 19 th century Australian literature, Mr Victor Crittenden. Crittenden's biography of Lang, titled "John Lang: Australia's Larrikin Writer," is due to be published in Canberra next month.
The plaque is sponsored by Mr Medcalf and Mr Crittenden. "It is appropriate that the plaque is located in the town Lang loved and where he worked and died," said Mr Medcalf.
Lang was born in Parramatta, Sydney, in 1816. He moved to India at the age of 25 after living in England where he studied law. Lang is also remembered for his role in publishing and editing a popular newspaper, The Mofussilite.
For further information, please contact Mr John Fisher on (0) 9810154256.