EBOOK
About
When Dalley, a convict's son who became the first Australian Privy Councilor, died in 1888, The Bulletin described him as 'a man of many splendors, both of intellect and heart', and 'in many respects the most notable man Sydney has given birth to'. Nine years later, some 10,000 people gathered in Hyde Park for the unveiling of his statue. A plaque in St Paul's Cathedral, London, commemorates him. Clearly someone with a story worth telling. Unconventional and perennially popular, Dalley was a major contributor to the political, legal and literary life of NSW. While the dispatch of colonial troops to Sudan in 1885 is the act he is most often, remembered for today, contemporaries admired him for much more, not least the use of his remarkable oratorical power, honed in memorable court cases, to champion causes such as religious and racial harmony and a gentler form of parliamentary politics.