Con Wallace

{{Short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox MP

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Con Wallace

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Con Wallace (cropped).jpg

| constituency_MP = West Sydney

| parliament = Australian

| majority =

| predecessor = Billy Hughes

| successor = T. J. Ryan

| term_start = 5 May 1917

| term_end = 13 December 1919

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1881|1|19}}

| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1921|9|20|1881|1|19}}

| death_place = Auburn, New South Wales, Australia

| nationality = Australian

| spouse = Bridget Gallagher

| party = Australian Labor Party

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Navigator

| profession =

| religion =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Cornelius "Con" Wallace (19 January 1881 – 20 September 1921) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he received a primary education before becoming a seaman and an organiser of the Seamen's Union of Australia. In 1917, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for West Sydney, succeeding Prime Minister Billy Hughes (elected as a member of the Labor Party but now a Nationalist), who contested Bendigo instead. In 1919, Wallace contested Nepean to make way for former Queensland Premier T. J. Ryan, but was defeated.{{cite web|last=Carr|first=Adam|title=Australian Election Archive|work=Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive|url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia|year=2008|accessdate=7 June 2008}}

After Wallace's defeat in the 1919 election, Ryan's successor Ted Theodore appointed him to a position in the Queensland Navigation Department. He found the salary too small and returned to Sydney. After Ryan's death on 1 August 1921, he stood for Labor preselection in the 1921 West Sydney by-election; he lost to William Lambert.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15977861|title=Obituary|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=21 September 1921}} Wallace suffered a heart attack on 19 September and died the following day at St. Joseph's Hospital, Auburn, aged 40.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/239702129|title=Mr. Con Wallace|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=21 September 1921}} His wife, the former Bridget Gallagher, was left destitute with four young children but was supported by his parliamentary colleagues.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/118917506|title=Late Mr. Con Wallace|newspaper=The Evening News|date=26 September 1921}} Their son Cornelius Carr Wallace was an ALP member of the Sydney City Council from 1967 to 1972.{{cite news|url=https://www.sydneyaldermen.com.au/alderman/cornelius-wallace/|title=Cornelius Carr Wallace|publisher=Sydney Aldermen|access-date=8 May 2019}}