William Nelson
NELSON, William Muir, ACGI Lond. MIEAust MIEE AMICE (1871-1926)
NELSON, WILLIAM MUIR, electrical engineer, was born at Loudoun station, Dalby, on 5 October 1871, the son of Hugh Muir Nelson (later Sir Hugh, Premier of Queensland). He received his early education at Toowoomba Grammar School and later at Brisbane Grammar School. In 1891 he became a junior draughtsman in the locomotive department of the Queensland State Railways and from 1892 to 1893 he served part of an apprenticeship with the locomotive workshops of the New South Wales State Railways.
In 1894 Nelson commenced an electrical engineering course at the Central Technical College, London, and on completion in 1897 became an Associate of the City and Guilds Institute, London (later Imperial College). His first professional appointment as an electrical engineer was in Scotland as Assistant Mains Superintendent in the Electric Lighting Department of the Edinburgh Corporation. This was followed by appointments in 1900 as Assistant Engineer with the Greenock Corporation Electricity Supply and from 1901 to 1902 as Chief Engineer and Manager.
In 1903 he returned to Australia and accepted an appointment as Chief Assistant Engineer with the Brisbane Tramway Co. Ltd with responsibility for the construction and maintenance of power plant, overhead structures, track and rolling-stock. In 1908 he transferred to the Electricity Supply Department of the Sydney Municipal Council as Chief Assistant Engineer in charge of power supply and distribution.
In 1909 when the Launceston Municipal Council was planning a new tramway system, Nelson assisted with the design and specifications and also supervised construction. His next appointment was in 1910 in New Zealand as Chief Engineer to the Christchurch Tramways Board and he remained in this position until 1913 when he returned to Brisbane as Chief Engineer to the Brisbane Tramways Co. Ltd. It followed a period from 1909 to 1913 during which no extension had been made to the tramway system.
In 1922 the Brisbane Tramways Trust was created and on 1 January 1923 it took over the ownership and control of the system from the tramway company, Nelson becoming Acting General Manager and Chief Engineer of the Trust. When in 1925 the tramway system was handed over by the Trust to the new Brisbane City Council, the management and engineering responsibilities were separated and he was designated Chief Engineer, Tramways Department.
Nelson took a keen interest in professional society activities. He was a member of the Queensland Electrical Association, and gave his first paper to the Association in 1904. He became President in 1906 and his presidential address on "The Education of Electrical Engineers" showed a keen appreciation of the problems involved and gave positive guidance to their solution. He was a member of the Queensland Institute of Engineers and President for 1915-16. In 1919 he and J.S. Just (q.v.) represented the Institute on the Provisional Council of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, and in 1920 (and again from 1923 to 1926) he represented the Brisbane Division on the newly-formed Council. In 1926 he was elected Chairman of the Brisbane Division.
Nelson was a member of the Road Construction Standing Committee of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, the Town Planning Association of Queensland, the Cross-River Commission, and the Engineering Standards Association. He had a close association with engineering education as President of the Council of Brisbane Technical College and as an Honorary Lecturer from 1915 to 1926 in the Faculty of Engineering in the University of Queensland. From 1907 to 1908 he was a trustee of Brisbane Grammar School.
He died suddenly in Brisbane on 5 October 1926 and was survived by his widow, a son and two daughters.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
'Brisbane Grammar School Annal , 1869-19221 (Brisb, 1923);
Brisbane Courier, 6 October 1926;
Trans. I. E. Aust., Vol. 7 (1927l, p. 681;
J.E. Morwood, 'History 9f Electric Tramways in Brisbane', Qld Dlv. Tech. Papers, I.E. Aust., Vol. 11 (1970), No. I;
Correspondence with Inst. Civ. Engrs, London;
NOTE: William Nelson was Engineers Australia Queensland President 1926 QLD Presidents
