HBC employee, pioneer.
Born at Glasgow, Scotland on 11 March 1841, at the age of 21 years he became employed as a tinsmith with the Hudson's Bay Company at its Fort Churchill post. Five years later, he moved south to Fort Garry where he received a grant of 50 acres, in lieu of return passage to Scotland. His tract, a river lot 660 feet wide, covered the full length of what is now Langside Street in Winnipeg. A neighbor was James Spence, for whom another Winnipeg street is named.
On 4 March 1868, he married Mary Spence (?-?), one of James' daughters. Their first home was a log house on Portage Avenue near Spence Street. In 1879, the Lang family moved to Roseau River, near Dominion City, in southern Manitoba where they bought a substantial farm. The area became known as Langside.
He died in the RM of Franklin on 24 July 1927 and was buried in the Greenridge Cemetery. He is commemorated by Langside Street in Winnipeg.
Death registration [James Alexander Lang], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“He gave his name to a street and a district,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 April 1963.
We thank historian Harry Shave for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 May 2023
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