Wallace and the land nationalisation movement
Catalogue number: WP1/1/104
Letter from Wallace to his son William describing a book sent to him from a fellow socialist and author, dated February 1905.
Wallace tells William that he was sent a copy of The Opportunity of Liberalism by author Brougham Villiers. Wallace pointed that his views on land nationalisation were misrepresented in this book, an error the author duly apologised for. Wallace was an active Socialist and was particularly concerned with issues of land ownership. He wrote the article How to Nationalise the Land in 1880 and became the first president of the newly formed Land Nationalisation Society in 1881.
The Land Nationalisation Society believed land should be the property of the state so everyone could be free to use and enjoy it equally. Wallace was president for more than 30 years. Despite their efforts, the society never managed to achieve its aims.
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