Gideon Scott Lang was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 born Australian pastoralist who was a key figure in the pioneer settlement of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, the Riverina

Riverina

The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...

 and the Darling Downs regions.

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

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 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, Victoria

Buninyong is a place in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Midland Highway, south of Ballarat on the road to Geelong. It's known locally as the drug smuggling capital of the South West region. Local Dealers are said to import the majority of their cannabis supply from farmers in Durham Lead...

.

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

Murrumbidgee River

The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...

 frontage. The town of Hay

Hay, New South Wales

Hay is a town in the western Riverina region of south western New South Wales , Australia.  It is the administrative centre of Hay Shire Local Government Area and the centre of a prosperous and productive agricultural district on the wide Hay Plains....

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

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 and in 1851, after obtaining information on the whereabouts of Ludwig Leichhardt

Ludwig Leichhardt

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt, known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a Prussian explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.-Early life:...

 attempted to begin a search, but was restrained by drought.

In 1854, Lang married Elizabeth Jane Cape, daughter of the schoolmaster William Timothy Cape

William Timothy Cape

William Timothy Cape was an early school master in Sydney, Australia; several of the Premiers of New South Wales attended his school....

. He was elected to represent the Liverpool Plains and Gwydir

Electoral district of Liverpool Plains

Liverpool Plains was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, created in 1859 and including the Liverpool Plains and the extensive pastoral district around the Gwydir River in the northwest of the state. It was created when the seat of...

 in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

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

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...

 at Como

Como

Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....

 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 (pastoral)

In Australian history, a squatter was one who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock.  Initially often having no legal rights to the land, they gained its usage by being the first Europeans in the area....

 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

Commercial Bank of Australia

The Commercial Bank of Australia was an Australian retail bank which merged into the Bank of New South Wales bank in 1982, to form Westpac...

on its establishment in 1866. Late in his life, he was involved in the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879. Lang died on 13 July 1880.