John Bede Dalley (5 October 1876 – 6 September 1935) was an Australian journalist, editor and novelist. He had a long-standing association with The Bulletin magazine in Sydney and was also employed as an editor and correspondent with The Herald newspaper group in Melbourne. His published novels took a sardonic view of upper-class Sydney society and the English aristocracy.
John Dalley was born and raised in Sydney, but he and his brothers completed their education in England after the death of their father, a politician and barrister, in 1888. Dalley studied law at Oxford University and was admitted as a barrister in 1901, after which he returned to Australia and practised law in Sydney for about four years. In 1906 he was employed as the editor of the Bathurst newspaper The National Advocate. Apart from the later war years, Dalley remained in the field of journalism for the rest of his life. In 1907 he took up a position as sub-editor at The Bulletin magazine in Sydney. During World War I Dalley served for three years in the A.I.F. in Egypt and France, and on his return to Australia rejoined The Bulletin with writing and editorial duties. In late 1924 he accepted the position of editor of the Melbourne Punch, revitalised after being acquired by The Herald newspaper group. After a year, however, Punch was incorporated into the weekly magazine Table Talk and Dalley left for England where he became the London correspondent for Melbourne's Herald newspaper. In early 1928 his novel No Armour was published in England, soon after which Dalley returned to Sydney and rejoined The Bulletin as an associate-editor. Two more of his novels were published in subsequent years. Dalley died on 6 September 1935, aged 58, after he was washed off a rock platform while fishing at the northern seaside suburb of Avalon.
Early years John Bede Dalley was born on 5 October 1876 in Rose Bay, Sydney, the third of five children of William Bede Dalley and Eleanor Jane (née Long). His father was a barrister and politician. In January 1881, when John was aged four years, his mother died of typhoid.Clement Semmler (1981), Dalley, John Bede (1876–1935), Australian Dictionary of Biography website, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed 3 November 2023.Family records, Ancestry.com. By late 1886, the health of John's father had begun to suffer, and he largely retired to his home, making only occasional public appearances. William Bede Dalley died in late October 1888 from cardiac disease, renal disease and uraemia, with his death reported as "not altogether unexpected".Obituary, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 November 1888, page 11.Martha Rutledge and Bede Nairn (1972), William Bede Dalley (1831–1888), Australian Dictionary of Biography website, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed 3 November 2023.
John Dalley was initially educated at St. Aloysius' College, a Catholic school in Kirribilli. Following his father's death, John and his brothers were sent to England by their maternal-uncle and principal guardian William Long to complete their schooling (despite their late father's wish for his sons to be educated in Sydney). John attended St. Augustine's Abbey school at Ramsgate, and Beaumont College at Old Windsor, Oxford.
Legal career Dalley matriculated from University College, Oxford in November 1895. He studied law at Oxford University and was admitted as a student to the Inner Temple in London.'Council of Legal Education', The Times (London), 16 June 1897, page 10.'Calls to the Bar', The Times (London), 19 November 1901, page 8. During his studies, 'Jack' Dalley and his two brothers enjoyed an active life. In about March 1898 William wrote to Frank Butler, who had been one of the guardians of the three brothers: "We have a good time here with plenty of horses, and lots of riding, fishing, shooting, and hunting".William Bede Dalley, Freeman's Journal, 12 March 1898, page 14.
In October 1899, Dalley's younger brother Charles died after suffering a broken neck from an accident while hunting at Enfield, north of London. John Dalley was riding with his brother when the accident occurred.Young Dalley Killed in the Hunting-Field, Freeman's Journal, 11 November 1899, page 16.My Brother John, Evening News (Sydney), 12 September 1922, page 6. Charles Dalley's remains were sent to Sydney on the mail steamer Cuzco, accompanied by his brothers William and John, for interment in the family vault at Waverley Cemetery. His funeral was held on 2 January 1900.The Late Charles Bede Dalley, Freeman's Journal, 30 December 1899, page 17.The Late Mr. C. V. P. B. Dalley, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 January 1900, page 8.
John Dalley returned to England in May 1900 aboard the mail steamer Arcadia, accompanied by his younger sister Mary.Mr John Bede Dalley, Freeman's Journal, 12 May 1900, page 20. Dalley was called to the Bar in England on 18 November 1901 and soon afterwards he returned to Australia, intending to remain and practise law.The two surviving sons..., Freeman's Journal, 31 March 1900, page 16. John Dalley was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 10 February 1902.Law Report, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 February 1902, page 3. In September 1902 he was appointed as a Crown Prosecutor at the Goulburn Assizes.Items of Interest, Lithgow Mercury, 3 October 1902, page 8.
Dalley practised for several years at Wigram Chambers in Phillip Street, Sydney, and was a member of the exclusive Union Club.
In November 1903, Dalley announced his intention to stand as a candidate for the Protectionist Party in the federal seat of Wentworth.Mr. J. B. Dalley's Candidature, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 November 1903, page 6. Dalley's opponent, William Kelly, was from the Free Trade Party. At the election held on 16 December 1903 Dalley was defeated, receiving only 28% of the vote.Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 16 December 1903: Wentworth, NSW, Psephos: Adam Carr's Election Archive website; accessed 4 November 2023.
In Sydney in November 1905, the two Dalley brothers, William and John, were involved in a sensational divorce case between William and his wife Ianthe (née Fattorini), who had been married in August 1895 at Darling Point in Sydney. William Dalley petitioned for the dissolution of his marriage on the ground of his wife's adultery with his brother John (who was named as a co-respondent in the case). William claimed the two had committed adultery in July and August 1900 at Cadenabbia, on the shore of Lake Como in Italy, and from August 1903 to June 1904 at Narrabeen, Pittwater and other locations "in and about Sydney". Ianthe Dalley was also accused of deserting her husband and "connivance". Furthermore, of his wife's two children, William claimed to be the father of only the first child (born in August 1897) and questioned the paternity of the second (born in August 1899). As the respondent, Ianthe Dalley countered with accusations of cruelty and adultery by her husband at various times between 1895 and 1904 with a number of women.The Dalley Divorce Case and Dalley Divorce Suit, Evening News (Sydney), 6 November 1905, pages 4 and 5. William and Ianthe Dalley had separated in 1903. The case was heard over eighteen days before a judge and jury and the details were extensively reported. When the case concluded on 1 December the jury was locked up for twelve hours, after which they advised the judge they "were not prepared to give a verdict on all the issues". The jury reached only one unanimous agreement, that William had committed adultery with a woman named Kitty Cowell during the period 1895 to 1904.The Dalley Case, Evening News (Sydney), 2 December 1905, page 4. In March 1906 a decree nisi for the dissolution of the marriage was granted to Ianthe Dalley.Dalley v. Dalley, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 15 March 1906, page 9. Further litigation followed when Ianthe sought alimony and maintenance for her second child.
John Dalley suffered from hearing loss, a legacy of injuries he had received from falls from a horse while engaged in hunting pursuits. In addition to a fractured knee and a broken collarbones, Dalley had suffered from concussion on three occasions while undertaking the sport in both England and Australia. By about 1906 his persistent deafness prompted his decision to stop practising law and turn to journalism.
Journalism
In March 1906, Dalley was employed as the editor of the Bathurst newspaper, The National Advocate.Personal, Grafton Argus and Clarence River General Advertiser, 29 March 1906, page 8. In April 1907 a commentator writing in the Molong Argus observed: "Mr. Dalley certainly transformed the 'National Advocate' into a bright and readable paper by his trenchant and capable writings – and for a litterateur who had had no previous journalistic experience, he did wonders".Personal Notes, Molong Argus, 19 April 1907, page 6.
In April 1907, Dalley left Bathurst to take up a position as a sub-editor of The Bulletin magazine in Sydney.Personal, Freeman's Journal (Sydney), 18 April 1907, page 22. By 1911 he was a leader-writer for The Bulletin.John Bede Dalley, New South Wales Bar Association website; accessed 3 November 2023. Dalley wrote under many noms-de-plume for The Bulletin and was described as an "indefatigable" sub-editor. It was said that Dalley's mode of writing and sub-editing "faithfully echoed the style on which the 'Bulletin' was founded" (described as "that thing of ease, keen edge, and ironic flippancy which was the authentic invention of the 'Bulletin' in the golden age of paragraph-writing").John Bede Dalley, Smith's Weekly (Sydney), 28 September 1935, page 13.
In February 1914 Dalley was described as "a carefully tailored little man [who] is a social favourite", combining "the role of man-about-town and sub-editor of the 'Bulletin' with great dexterity".Gossip for Women, The Telegraph (Brisbane), 7 February 1914, page 14. He was also described as "the complete cosmopolite, immaculately-dressed, perfectly-spoken [and] courteously-mannered".