Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Cosmo Gordon Lang
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Retirement and death== [[File:Lang, Cosmo Sign.jpg|thumb|alt= Cursive handwritten name "Cosmo Cantuar"|Lang's formal signature as Archbishop of Canterbury, "Cosmo Cantuar"]] During 1941 Lang considered retirement. His main concern was that a Lambeth Conference β "perhaps the most fateful Lambeth Conference ever held" β would need to be called soon after the war. Lang felt that he would be too old to lead it and that he should make way for a younger man, preferably William Temple. On 27 November he informed the prime minister, Winston Churchill, of his decision to retire on 31 March 1942. His last official act in office, on 28 March, was the confirmation of Princess Elizabeth.<ref name= L435 /> On his retirement Lang was raised to the [[peerage of the United Kingdom|peerage]] as Baron Lang of Lambeth, of [[Lambeth]] in the [[County of Surrey]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 35511 |page= 1508|date= 3 April 1942}}</ref> He thus remained in the House of Lords, where he attended regularly and contributed to debates. He worried about money, despite a pension, a large [[grace and favour]] house at [[Kew]], and some generous cash gifts from well-wishers.<ref name="Wilk6a"/> In 1943 he spoke in the House of Lords in support of the [[Beveridge Report]] on social insurance,<ref>Lockhart, p. 448.</ref> and on 9 February 1944 he reiterated his earlier opposition to obliteration bombing.<ref name= Wilk6a/> In October 1944 Lang was greatly distressed by the sudden death of William Temple, his successor at Canterbury, writing: "I don't like to think of the loss to the Church and Nation... But 'God knows and God reigns'."<ref name= L451>Lockhart, pp. 451β54.</ref> [[File:Chapel of St Stephen Martyr, Canterbury Cathedral.jpg|thumb|alt= A semi-circular area with stone walls, a domed ceiling and a tall stained glass window with prominent circular decorations.|Chapel of [[St Stephen Martyr]], [[Canterbury Cathedral]], restored in Lang's memory in 1950]] On 5 December 1945 Lang was due to speak in a Lords debate on conditions in Central Europe. On his way to [[Kew Gardens station (London)|Kew Gardens station]] to catch the London train, he collapsed and was taken to hospital, but was found to be dead on arrival. A post-mortem attributed the death to heart failure.<ref name= L451/> In paying tribute the following day, [[Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison|Lord Addison]] said that Lang was "not only a great cleric but a great man... we have lost in him a Father in God."<ref>{{cite web|title= The Late Lord Lang of Lambeth |publisher=Hansard β Lords sitting |url= https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1945/dec/06/the-late-lord-lang-of-lambeth|date= 6 December 1945 |work= [[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |access-date= 10 December 2009}}</ref> His body was cremated and the ashes taken to the Chapel of St Stephen Martyr, a side chapel at [[Canterbury Cathedral]].<ref name= L451 /> The [[probate]] value of Lang's estate was Β£29 541 (approximately Β£{{formatnum:{{Inflation |UK|29541|1945|r=-3}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}).{{inflation-fn |UK}}<ref>{{cite odnb|last= Wilkinson|first= Alan|title= (William) Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864β1945)|id=34398}} ("Wealth at Death" section)</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)