Wallace Nelson

Wallace Alexander Nelson (1856-1943) was a Western Australian politician. He represented the electorate of Hannans from 1904 to 1905 in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly . He was described as the wit and humorist of the Australian Labor Party in those days, having much experience at oration and writing.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Nelson had been ordered to relocate to a warmer climate by his doctor in Sheffield, England the 1880s, and subsequently immigrated to Brisbane and then Rockhampton (where he had unsuccessfully contested the Federal Seat of Capricornia in 1901, won by Alexander Paterson), before moving to Kalgoorlie.

In Kalgoorlie, he was editor of the Westralian Worker until December 1902, then the Kalgoorlie Sun and Figaro. After his stint in parliament he moved to Perth, where he edited the Perth Democrat, was leader writer for the Daily News and contributed to the literary journal Leeuwin. After 2 years in England, he moved to Sydney in 1916 where he edited the Australasian Worker until a few months before his death in 1943.

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