William Muir Nelson
William Muir Nelson ( -1926)
1927 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM MUIR NELSON, chief engineer of the Tramway Department of the Brisbane City Council, died at Brisbane on the 5th October, 1926.
A son of the late Sir Hugh Nelson - a former State Premier - he was born at Loudoun, near Dalby, in 1872, and was educated at Toowoomba Grammar School.
After spending some time in the railway workshops at Eveleigh, New South Wales, he left Australia in order to obtain further experience as an electrical and mechanical engineer and went to London and Edinburgh.
In 1900 he was appointed chief engineer and manager of the Greenock Corporation Electricity Supply Department.
In 1903 he returned to Australia as chief assistant engineer to the Brisbane Tramways Co., Ltd., a position which he held for five years, and then went to Launceston in connection with the construction of the Council's electric tramways.
In 1910 he was appointed chief engineer to the Christchurch Tramway Board, but three years later he returned to Brisbane as chief assistant engineer to the Brisbane Tramways, being subsequently appointed chief engineer and general manager in 1921. When the system was taken over by the Brisbane Tramways Trust at the beginning of 1923, he was appointed acting general manager and chief engineer.
In 1924, owing to the extension and development of the system, it became necessary to separate the management from the engineering branch and he was appointed chief engineer, a position which he held until his death.
He was elected a Student of the Institution in 1894, an Associate in 1897, an Associate Member in 1902, and a Member in 1920. He was chairman of the Queensland Section of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, and was recognized as one of the leaders of his profession in Queensland.