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John Rowland Dacey (1 June 1854 – 11 April 1912) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He moved to Victoria, Australia, with his mother after his father died. Eventually orphaned, Dacey moved to Sydney with his wife and began working as a coachmaker. He began his involvement in politics with an election to local council then moved to the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...
from 24 June 1895 to his death on 11 April 1912, serving as
Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
in his final two years. Throughout his parliamentary career, Dacey campaigned for a
garden suburb The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, an ...
which would provide government-owned, low-cost housing to the working class. After his death, the garden suburb of
Daceyville Daceyville (formerly Dacey Garden Suburb) is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Daceyville is 7 km south of the Sydney central business district and is now part of Bayside Council (form ...
was built in Sydney and named in honour of him.


Early life

John Dacey was born on 1 June 1854 in
Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...
, Ireland, to Thomas Dacey, a barrister, and Margaret (''née'' Jamson). After his father died, Dacey and his mother moved to
Kyneton, Victoria Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of central Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. The town has three main streets: Mollison Street, Piper Street and High Street. Piper Street has ...
in 1858. He was adopted by one Dr Smith in 1859 after his mother died. Following Dr Smith's death in 1866, he worked as a butcher's assistant. Dacey also worked as an agricultural blacksmith and managed a branch of May and Miller in Victoria. Dacey married Martha Ellen Douglass on 27 July 1878 at St John's Church,
Horsham, Victoria Horsham () is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, Horsham ...
. In 1883, Dacey worked as a coachmaker and established Dacey & Co. in Alexandria, Sydney. By 1901 he was helping to organise the Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia in Sydney and served as the Union's Secretary until his death.


Political involvement

Dacey's involvement in politics began when he was elected to the Alexandria Municipal Council. He served on the council for ten years from 1886 to 1896 and as the mayor in 1888 and 1889. Dacey began his involvement in state politics as the Returning Officer for the district of Redfern from 1889 to 1891. He joined the Redfern Labor Electoral League, the local branch of the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales, in
1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...
, but was defeated for pre-selection by
James McGowen James Sinclair Taylor McGowen (16 August 1855 – 7 April 1922) was an Australian politician. He served as premier of New South Wales from 1910 to 1913, the first member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to hold the position, and was a key f ...
, who would later serve as Premier and appoint Dacey to the cabinet. A
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, Dacey was influenced in his political opinions by
protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...
and the ''
rerum novarum ''Rerum novarum'', or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, passed to all Catholic patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops, which addressed the condi ...
'', which supported people's right to join trade unions. He combined these beliefs with his experience with the Wool and Basil Workers Union and the Labor platform. He was an anti-billite, meaning that he was against Federation, and spoke against it, for example at
Coraki, New South Wales Coraki is a small town that sits on the confluence of the Richmond and Wilsons Rivers in northern New South Wales, Australia in Richmond Valley Shire. At the 2021 census, Coraki had a population of 1,155. Material was copied from this source ...
on 15 June 1899, based on his opposition to
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...
. Dacey campaigned for the district of Botany in
1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...
and lost to the free trade supporter William Stephen. Dacey was successful in the 1895 election, defeating Stephen for the seat. In the 1904 state election, Dacey was elected to the new district of Alexandria following an
electoral redistribution Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral distr ...
. He was succeeded in the district of Botany by Rowland Anderson from the Liberal Reform Party. Dacey became a senior party figure in the late 1890s and began to work on political strategy to win support in suburban seats and from white-collar voters. He stood in opposition to his party's support for the Premiership of Sir George Reid and instead threatened to resign if the party did not switch its support to
William Lyne Sir William John Lyne Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (6 April 1844 – 3 August 1913) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901, and later as a federal cabinet minister under Edmund Barton ...
's
Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party, also known as the Protectionist Liberal Party or Liberal Protectionist Party, was an Politics of Australia, Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. T ...
. At a Labor Party conference in 1899, the party executive decided to put forward the protectionism/free trade debate to a referendum of all party members, despite Dacey's campaigning. Dacey's standing in the Labor Party continued to grow: he was the party's treasurer from 1901 to 1910 and on the Party Central Executive in 1912. Labor won the 1910 state election and, while Dacey was not given a cabinet position in Labor's first cabinet, he did gain positions in the second and third arrangement of McGowen's ministry; firstly, on 10 November 1911, as a
minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
following two resignations and then, shortly after, on 27 November, as the
Treasurer of New South Wales The treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856 to 1959 as the colonial treasurer of New South Wales, is the Minister of the Crown, minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising an ...
.


Death and legacy

Dacey died of chronic nephritis while serving as the Colonial Treasurer and was granted a state funeral, which took place in St Brigid's Church in
Marrickville, New South Wales Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council Local government ...
and was well attended; a contemporary newspaper reported that along "the entire route of the procession, the footpaths were thick with people." Dacey had campaigned for the government to provide low-cost housing to the working class from the 1890s to his death; he stated that "the time has come when we should create a Garden City and provide houses of an up-to-date character at the lowest possible rental". His plans were based on the
garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...
, in particular to be modelled on the garden city of
Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...
in Hertfordshire, England. After his death, his plans were partially implemented by the Holman ministries from 1913 to 1920 in Southern Sydney.
Daceyville Daceyville (formerly Dacey Garden Suburb) is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Daceyville is 7 km south of the Sydney central business district and is now part of Bayside Council (form ...
, named in honour of John Dacey, was Australia's first public housing estate and included Australia's first
cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...
. A suburb adjacent to his electorate was created and named after him, Daceyville. A recreational park area was also created, Rowland Park.


References

  {{DEFAULTSORT:Dacey, John Rowland 1854 births 1912 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Treasurers of New South Wales Politicians from Cork (city) Australian Roman Catholics Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian trade unionists Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Mayors of Alexandria, New South Wales 19th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Burials at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park Daceyville Colony of New South Wales people