Victor James William Patrick Daley was born in 1858 in Navan, Ireland, and was educated at the Christian Brothers at Devonport in England. He arrived in Australia in 1878, and became a freelance journalist and writer in both Melbourne and Sydney. Whilst in Melbourne, he met and became a friend of Marcus Clarke; later, in Sydney, he became acquainted with Henry Kendall. He is notable for becoming the first author in Australia who tried to earn a living from writing alone. He died in 1905, at Sydney, of tuberculosis.

Daley wrote radical verses under the pen-name of Creeve Roe.

A memoir of Daley by Bertram Stevens was published in Wine and Roses.

Daley serves chiefly as an example of the Celtic twilight in Australian verse. He also serves as a lyrical alternative to his contemporary bush balladists.

Bibliography

• At Dawn and Dusk (1898)
• Wine and Roses (1911)
• Creeve Roe (1947)

External Links

• | Australian Authors -- Victor Daley (1858-1905) contains a number of his poems.