Wallace Alexander Nelson (1856-1943) was a Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

n politician. He represented the electorate of Hannans from 1904 to 1905 in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Western Australian Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

 . He was described as the wit and humorist of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 in those days, having much experience at oration and writing.

Born in Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, Scotland, Nelson had been ordered to relocate to a warmer climate by his doctor in Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, England the 1880s, and subsequently immigrated to Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 and then Rockhampton

Rockhampton, Queensland

Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....

 (where he had unsuccessfully contested the Federal Seat of Capricornia

Division of Capricornia

The Division of Capricornia is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through the Division. It is located on the central Queensland coast and its...

 in 1901, won by Alexander Paterson), before moving to Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...

.

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.

Nelson was an official lecturer on the Great White Train

Great White Train

The Great White Train was an effort in the 1920s by Sydney based industrialists to convince Australians to 'Buy Australian Made'.The train was created by the Australia Made Preference League with the New South Wales government contributing £5000 to the project.The movie Undercover made about the...

tour of New South Wales country towns in 1925-26.