Born in Norwich, Last left school at the age of fifteen and completed an apprenticeship as a builder.
Once he arrived, he joined the General Union of Carpenters and Joiners (GUC&J), and soon became secretary of his local lodge.
The previous general secretary, Thomas Skinner, had been imprisoned, and many of the union's branches had defected to the rival Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners.
On that basis, he was repeatedly re-elected, but was forced to move to Bristol in 1868 and Birmingham in 1872, as the headquarters continued to rotate.
He worked closely with George Potter to maintain a reputation for being more radical than the ASC&J, and established new lodges around the country.