People Australia

Cornelius Wallace, 1917

National Library of Australia, 23514962

Cornelius (Con) Wallace (1881-1921) seaman, trade union official, parliamentarian and auctioneer

Birth: 19 January 1881 at Botany, New South Wales, son of James William Wallace, clerk, and Mary, née Carr (1852-1929), born at Tipperary, Ireland. Marriage: 24 April 1912 at St Peter’s Catholic Church, Surry Hills, Sydney, to native-born Bridget Gallagher (1880-1953), tailoress. They had one daughter and two sons. Death: 20 September 1921 at St Joseph’s Hospital Auburn. Religion: Catholic. 

• Educated at primary schools. Followed a variety of occupations.
• Associated with the Federated Seamens Union of Australasia (later Seamen’s Union of Australia) from 1898. Delegate for SUA from 1905 to 1909, organiser and, until, 1917 secretary. Also associated with Wharf Labourers Union from 1909.
• Joined Political Labor League in 1912. Secretary of Guildford branch and Granville State Council of the Australian Labor Party.
• Played important role in the 1913 State elections and 1914 Federal campaign. Interstate delegate to Trades Union Congress in Hobart in 1916. Commissioned justice of the peace by April 1915ß.
• Elected member of the Australian House of Representatives for seat of West Sydney on 5 May 1917 replacing W. M. Hughes.
• Having been an avid proponent of voluntarism, giving his occupation as “labourer”, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 23 September 1918. Was discharged on demobilization on 20 March 1919.
• In 1919 he won preselection to re-contest his parliamentary seat but stood aside in favour of T. J. Ryan, who was elected. Contesting instead the seat of Nepean on 13 December 1919, Wallace was defeated.
• Appointed to Queensland Navigation Department in 1919. Resigned and returned to Sydney. Unsuccessfully sought preselection for West Sydney after Ryan's death.
• His death certificate gave his occupation as auctioneer and agent and his residence as Taralga Road, Old Guildford. Cause of death: acute nephritis and uraemia. A subscription fund was set up and a concert was held to assist his family, in urgent need of assistance.
• Con’s son, Cornelius Carr Wallace (1916-1976), was an ALP alderman on Sydney City Council.

Sources
Australian Worker, 12 April 1917, 13 November 1919 p 5; Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 1921; L. F. Crisp & S. P. Bennett, Australian Labor Party: federal personnel 1901-1954, (Canberra, 1954).