[1] He was the youngest son and one of thirteen children born to Margaret (née Anderson) and John Lane.

He was actively involved in the Methodist Church, was a keen temperance campaigner, and helped found and was a long-term council member of the New South Wales Home for Incurables.

[4][5][6] The 1916 liquor referendum which introduced six o'clock closing of pubs in New South Wales was reportedly largely due to his efforts as a temperance campaigner.

[8][9] In 1917 Lane contested the federal election as the unsuccessful Nationalist candidate for the safe Labor seat of Dalley.

[3] The couple had three sons and one daughter together,[12] including Albert Stephen Lane who played rugby league for New South Wales.