Lang, Cosmo Gordon

Lang, Cosmo Gordon, 1864–1945, English churchman, archbishop of York (1908–28), archbishop of Canterbury (1928–42), b. Aberdeen, Scotland. From 1901 to 1908, while suffragan bishop of Stepney, London, and canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, he attempted to improve slum conditions and attracted wide attention. He was an acknowledged leader in the House of Lords and supported in Parliament the proposed revision (1928) of the Book of Common Prayer. With Stanley Baldwin he was instrumental in securing the abdication of Edward VIII, and he crowned George VI as king in 1937. Shortly after his resignation as archbishop in 1942, Lang was created Baron Lang of Lambeth.