He was born in Edinburgh to railway porter Neil Cameron and Mary Young.
[1] He first worked as a carpenter, quickly becoming involved in the union movement and becoming secretary of the Trades and Labor Council by 1873.
In 1874 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Trades and Labor Council's endorsed candidate for West Sydney.
[3] He was elected at the 1887 by-election for Kiama,[4] but his first term lasted barely more than 1 week before Parliament was dissolved.
By now known as a strong temperance advocate, he returned to politics in 1894 as the member for Waverley,[6] but he died in 1896.