Lang Hancock - Early Life

Early Life

Lang Hancock was born in Perth, Western Australia, to one of that state's oldest land-owning families. He spent his early childhood on his family's station at Ashburton Downs and moved to Mulga Downs in the north-west after his father, George Hancock, bought a farming estate there. Lang attended Hale School in Perth as a boarder and upon completing his education returned to Mulga Downs to help his father manage the estate.

As a young man, Hancock was widely considered charming and charismatic. Popular with the white women of Perth, he was also suspected to have fathered illegitimate children with Aboriginal workers in the area. In 2001, the Geraldton Guardian reported on Hilda Kickett, an Aboriginal woman who claimed to have been fathered by Hancock, and commented that "it was common for white men to enter into relationships, consensual and otherwise, with Aboriginal women." In 2012, Kickett repeated her claim that she was fathered by Hancock, citing that she has DNA evidence that prove she is his daughter. In 1935 he married 21-year-old Susette Maley, described by his biographer Debi Marshall as "an attractive blonde with laughing eyes". The pair lived at Mulga Downs for many years, but Maley pined for city life and eventually left Hancock to return to Perth. Their separation was amicable. Also in 1935, Hancock took over the management of Mulga Downs station from his father. He partnered with his old schoolmate E. A. "Peter" Wright in running the property, later boasting that no deals between the two men were ever sealed with anything stronger than a handshake.

During the Second World War, Hancock served in a militia unit and obtained the rank of sergeant. On 4 August 1947, Hancock married his second wife, Hope Margaret Nicholas, the mother of his only acknowledged child Gina Rinehart. Lang and Hope remained married for 35 years, until Hope's death in 1983 at the age of 66.