As far as William Langlands’ great-great-great-granddaughter is concerned, Murray Stott can "go and take a jump".
Alison Joyce’s reaction came after Mr Stott gave reasons for wanting to trademark Langlands so it could not be used to name the ILT hotel being built in Invercargill.
In an interview with RNZ this week, Mr Stott, a trademark agent and global sponsorship broker, said he took a disliking to the name and moved to trademark it to prevent its use by the Invercargill Licensing Trust.
"It’s [The Langlands] a useless name. It does nothing," Mr Stott told RNZ.
"It’s got no imagination to it."
For Mrs Joyce, Mr Stott’s actions were an insult to her family.
"What has it got to do with him anyway?
"Mr Stott can go and take a jump."
She said the hotel had been named in a competition run by the ILT, and the building, which was torn down to make way for the hotel, was the last original one her forebear had built in Invercargill.
"How more appropriate could it be in acknowledging a forefather and the work that William did in creating all that real history along that road?"
The Victoria University of Wellington website shows a passage from the The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (Otago & Southland provincial districts) which states William Langlands was a justice of the peace and prominent Otago politician.
He entered the service of the provincial government as a draughtsman, and was afterwards promoted to the position of provincial engineer and architect for Otago.
"Mr Langlands bought a considerable block of land in Dee St. Invercargill, and improved his property by the erection of good and substantial buildings."
Earlier this week, Mr Stott withdrew his application after ILT’s lawyer outlined the trust’s position was it had a legal right to the name.
The trust has now submitted an application of its own.
