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Frank Langley
Frank Langley
Personal information
Full name	Francis Ernest Langley
Date of birth	13 October 1882
Place of birth	Prahran
Date of death	22 March 1946 (aged 63)
Place of death	Dandenong, Victoria
Original team(s)	Caulfield Grammar
Height	177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	71 kg (157 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Playing career1
Years	Club
1900–1906	Melbourne
Representative team honours
Years	Team
1903–1904	Victoria
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1906.
Career highlights
	VFL premiership player: 1900; Melbourne captain: 1905; Melbourne leading goalkicker: 1901;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Francis Ernest Langley (13 October 1882 – 22 March 1946) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the early 1900s.

Family

The son of Henry Archdall Langley (1840–1906), Anglican Bishop of Bendigo, and Elizabeth Mary Langley (1842–1923), née Strachan, and the tenth of 12 children, Langley was born at Prahran on 13 October 1882.^[1] One of his elder brothers, Henry Thomas Langley, became Dean of Melbourne, while many of his other siblings took roles within the Anglican church and the education system.^[2]

He married Lillie Kate Mills (1876–1967), the daughter of George Peter Mills (1835–1933),^[3] and Mary "Minnie" Mills (1848–1913), née Kyte,^[4] on 25 April 1908.^[5]^[6]

Education

Langley was educated at Caulfield Grammar School,^[7] and at Trinity College, University of Melbourne where he earned a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree.^[8]^[9] After completing university he worked as a medical practitioner.

Footballer

He was recruited directly from Caulfield Grammar School in 1900.

"In Langley, the Melbourne footballer, Caulfield has the champion player of the schools. He has been first in every game, and in the last two seasons has kicked 33 goals in 11 premiership games." — The Australasian, 15 September 1900.^[10]

While continuing as a student at Caulfield Grammar School, he played every senior game that season,^[11]^[12] and was forward pocket in the Melbourne team that won the Grand Final that year,^[13]^[14] with "Old Boy", the football correspondent for The Argus noting that, for Melbourne, "Langley's play in the third quarter was wonderful. He is only a school-boy, but during that trying time on the lower wing he was cool and sure as a veteran".^[15]

Langley could play many roles on the field but was primarily a hard running defender who on occasions was used on the ball. He was often rested up forward and his 17 goals in 1901 was enough to top Melbourne's goal kicking.^[16] In 1903,^[17] and 1904,^[18] he represented Victoria at interstate football. In 1905 he captained Melbourne for the year, with the club finishing last.

After football

Conducting his medical practice from Dandenong, he was not only a valuable cricketer for the Dandenong Cricket Club, but also served as its president.^[19]

Death

Langley died at his home in Dandenong in 1946.^[20] He was survived by his wife Lillie and three children, Dorothy, Eric and Roy.^[21]^[22]^[23]^[24]

Footnotes

^ Births: Langley, The Telegraph, (Saturday, 21 October 1882), p.4
^ Hansen, I. V. (2000). "Langley, Henry Thomas (1877–1968)". In Ritchie, John (ed.). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 15. Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press.
^ Deaths: Mills, The Argus, (Thursday, 19 October 1933), p.1
^ Marriages: Mills—Kyte, The Argus, (Friday, 23 August 1867), p.4.; Deaths: Mills, The Argus, (Saturday, 6 December 1913), p.13
^ Marriages: Langley—Mills, (Saturday, 23 May 1908), p.13
^ Lillie was also the younger sister of Minnie Aimee Mills, who had married Frank's older brother, Aylmer John Langley (1872–1943), on 22 July 1903: Marriages: Langley—Mills, The Age, (Saturday, 8 August 1903), p.5
^ Webber, (1981), p.301.
^ University Council, The Age, (Tuesday, 5 December 1905), p.5: "Bachelor of Medicine.
^ The Melbourne University, The Age, (Friday, 27 April 1906), p.5: "Bachelor of Surgery".
^ 'Old Boy', "College Sports: Weekly Jottings", The Australasian, (Saturday, 15 September 1900), p.584.
^ Webber, 1981, p.69; Wilkinson, 1997, pp.28-30.
^ 'Follower', "Football", The Leader, (Saturday, 28 April 1900), p.17; 'Old Boy', "A Draw or a Win?", The Argus, (Monday, 7 May 1900), p.6
^ Melbourne Football Team. Premiers 1900 (photograph), The Australasian, (Saturday, 29 September 1900), p.701.
^ 'Follower', "The Football Season", The Age, (Monday, 24 September 1900), p.9].
^ 'Old Boy', "Football", The Argus, (Monday, 24 September 1900), p.7.]
^ Main, Jim; Holmesby, Russell (1992). The Encyclopedia of League Footballers. Melbourne, Victoria: Wilkinson Books. p. 244. ISBN 1-86337-085-4.
^ The Victorian Team, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 4 July 1903), p.10 (Langley is second from the left in the back row of the Victorian team that played South Australia); 'Drop Kick', "Football", The Sportsman, (Tuesday, 30 June 1903), p.3
^ Victorian Football Team, The Kalgoorlie Western Argus, (Tuesday, 6 September 1904), p.24 (Langley is second from the left in the back row of the Victorian team that played Western Australia); Football, The (Perth) Daily News, (Tuesday, 16 August 1904), p.9
^ Dandenong Cricket Club, The South Bourke and Mornington Journal, (Thursday, 14 September 1911), p.3
^ "Obituary". The Advocate. 23 March 1946. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
^ "Family Notices". The Argus. 23 March 1946. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
^ Deaths: Langley, The Age. (Saturday, 23 March 1946), p.11.
^ Death of a Grand Sportsman and Gentleman, The Dandenong Journal, (Wednesday, 27 March 1946), p.14.
^ Dandenong Doctor Leaves £23,436, The Dandenong Journal, (Wednesday, 26 June 1946), p.1.

References

Webber, Horace (1981). Years May Pass On... Caulfield Grammar School, 1881–1981. Centenary Committee, Caulfield Grammar School, (East St Kilda). ISBN 0-9594242-0-2.
Wilkinson, Ian R. (1997). The Fields At Play – 115 years of sport at Caulfield Grammar School 1881–1996. Playright Publishing. ISBN 0-949853-60-7.