Macfarlane Lang & Co.’s – Biscuit Making 1928
11 Comments
→
Genealogy
Social Media
One-time Yearly Membership
Automatic Yearly Membership
Recent Comments
- on Victorian Railways – A List of all Persons Employed in the Railway Service on the 31st January, 1884
- on Victorian Railways – A List of all Persons Employed in the Railway Service on the 31st January, 1884
- on “MacFarlane’s Lantern” – Current and back issues now available
- on “MacFarlane’s Lantern” – Current and back issues now available
- on Membership Info
Hi I’m also interested in the family as my gg grandad could be a son of one of the McFarland men
As my auntie has said her father was told the story that his nan worked for them and got Pregnant by one of the Macfarland Lang who had the biscuit factory
But I can’t think how I would find this out
Hi Kathleen,
Your query raises many questions that need answering. While you may never be able to prove or disprove this old family story conclusively, you could try to establish its plausibility, with the use of a combination of traditional methods and DNA testing.
A YDNA test on a direct male descendant of your great-great-grandfather could be done to see if there are any matches among Macfarlane descendants that have also completed a test with, for example, the MacFarlane Project at Family Tree DNA.
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/mac-farlane/about
However, I suggest you start by documenting your family history back to your great-great-great-grandmother and see what you can find out. For instance, did she live anywhere near the Macfarlane Lang Biscuit Co.? Did she actually work for the company and when? Did she have any other connection with the company? When did she marry your great-great-great-grandfather? Was the story told suggesting the possible illegitimate birth of your great-great-grandfather, or perhaps it was in relation to another pregnancy which did not reach full term or was stillborn? When and where was your great-great-grandfather born and what details are shown on the certificate? When and where were his siblings born?
I wish you well with your research.
Glenda Dickson
Secretary,
Clan MacFarlane Society, Australia Inc.
Hi, I’m reading into my family history and found that a Mr James Lang Baker could be my GGG Grandad, the only information I have is through Ancestry and I have a James Lang born about 1757 Glasgow. This could not be a relation at all but most of my Lang family dating back to 1780s are all Bakers Including my grandfather Robert Lang.
Have you got any information on James Lang.
Kindest regards
Peter
Hi Peter,
There is an entry for James Lang of MacFarlane & Lang Biscuit Manufacturers in the clan database
clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info
His person ID is I108827. The entry is very brief but it does reveal that he married Jean Macfarlane in January 1824 and died in 1841. That year (1841) was also the year in which Langs Bakery (est. 1817) became MacFarlane Lang. I note that most of the information you have obtained is from Ancestry. However, it is always best with family history to start with yourself and work backwards obtaining documentary evidence as you search, rather than attempt to jump a few generations hoping to make a link with an established family. Good luck with your research and please remember to let us know if you uncover any further details about the family.
Regards
Glenda Dickson
Secretary
Trying to tie this family into on of my existing trees. Plenty of info on the company but very little on the family. Prbably the best family history strangely comes from a website selling James Ewing MacFarlane’s (son of John of MacFarlane & Lang biscuts) Rolls Royce car.
“The Biscuit Family: John Ewing MacFarlane (1883/1973), his grandfather had inherited the biscut business from his uncle James Lang. John Macfarlane Snr died in 1908, literally the day before he was due to retire & the firm was left to his 3 sons James (Kt 1932), John & George. In 1912 John & his daughter were aboard the P&O liner “Oceana” enroute to India when it was rammed & sunk by the German iron barque “Pisagua”; the Oceana lowered one of her lifeboats but it capsized killing 9 of the occupants including John MacFarlane, his daughter was thrown clear and survived. The MacFarlane family business interests were varied & included Shipping: Thomas Dunlop & Co with a vessel named “Clan MacFarlane”; Power: Gas Light & Coke Co Ltd and Property. John E. MacFarlane’s brother Robert French MacFarlane (French being his mother’s maiden name) was a notable inventor who between 1922 & 1951 had some 51 worldwide patents registered in his name for use with the production of Biscuits. The MacFarlane family felt a great deal of responsibility towards their local communities & employees both in Scotland & England to the extent that in 1926 Sir James & his brother George donated 22 acres on which was built the Canniesburn Infirmary, in 1960 John Ewing funded a lifeboat which was duly christened the “John & Frances Macfarlane”.
[http://www.realcar.co.uk/25_30_gan78.htm]
Thanks for sharing that information Andrew. Sorry I didn’t see your post earlier. Hopefully more details on the family will come to light in the future.
I too am doing research on this line to see how I tie in. I am from John Menzies Macfarlane born in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom October 11,1833
Hi Kelly,
Details on your ancestor, John Menzies Macfarlane are included in the Clan MacFarlane and Associated Genealogy database (Person ID 138796) at:
https://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I38796&tree=CC
If you have any queries or would like to provide more information, I suggest you get in touch with the website administrator via the contact page on the website.
You are also most welcome to join our society and receive our regular newsletter. Details can be found by clicking on the Membership Info tab on the home page.
Regards
Glenda Dickson
Secretary
Clan MacFarlane Society, Australia Inc.
Would love to have some of the biscuit tins now!!
What happened to the company?
Hi Glenn,
I asked Malcolm what he knew about MacFarlane Lang & Co and he said information on the company is easily obtained by searching the internet. He kindly provided the following excerpt from the Glasgow University website:
“The business began as Langs bakery in 1817, before becoming MacFarlane Lang in 1841. The first biscuit factory opened in 1886, and changed its name to MacFarlane Lang & Co in the same year. The business then opened a factory in Fulham, London in 1903, and in 1904 became MacFarlane Lang & Co Ltd. In 1948 it formed United Biscuits Ltd along with McVitie and Price.”
Thanks