John Lang, an Australian lawyer, editor and writer, who had appeared for the Rani of Jhansi against the British East India Company, was born on this day.
Born in Sydney, he qualified as a barrister from England. He returned to Australia and came to India a few years later and practised law. The Rani of Jhansi was one of his clients.
He established the paper Mofussilite in Meerut. His novels include The Wetherbys (1853), Too Clever by Half (1853), Too Much Alike (1854) and The Forger’s Wife (1855), considered one of the first English detective novels.
He also wrote Botany Bay; or True Stories of the Early Days of Australia (1859).
He was in Calcutta for a brief period, when he edited Optimist. He died in Mussoorie in 1864.
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