Sir William Biggart Lang (1868–1942)

Obituary – 1942

Sir William Biggart Lang, the youngest of the five sons of John Lang, founder of John Lang & Sons Engineering, passed away on 17th February 1942 in his seventy-fourth year. He was widely known in the West of Scotland as a prominent engineering employer.

Sir William spent his entire professional career with Messrs. John Lang & Sons, Ltd., lathe and machine tool manufacturers based in Johnstone, near Glasgow.

He was educated at Paisley Grammar School and the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, before joining the firm as an apprentice. In 1895, at the age of twenty-seven, he was appointed a director.

In 1887, he married Agnes Barr. Their first home was Springfield, South William Street, Johnstone, and later they lived at The Grange, Park Road, Johnstone (telephone number 142 Johnstone).

Sir William went on to become Chairman of the Board, a position he held for the rest of his life. Beyond his company, he played an important role in national and regional engineering organizations:

• Chairman, Machine Tool Committee of the Ministry of Munitions (1915–1918)

• President, North West Engineering Employers' Association (1921–1922)

• Member, Management Board of the Engineering and Allied Employers' National Federation (1921–1924)

• President, Machine Tool Trades Association (1937)

He also gave long service to public life, serving as Provost of Johnstone from 1914 to 1923.

For his services to industry and to his country, he was knighted in 1937. In the same year, he was elected a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.