Dominick Daly

Dominick Daly
Picture from waist up of a standing pale-skinned man, balding, with bushy side-burns, wearing double-breasted dark uniform with heavy gold epaulettes, gold braid, and a sash
Sir Dominick Daly, around 1861
Provincial Secretary of Lower Canada
In office
1827 – 31 December 1843
MonarchVictoria
Governors General
Lieutenant GovernorSir Francis Nathaniel Burton (1827)
Preceded byThomas Amyot (absentee)
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Executive Council of Lower Canada
In office
2 June 1838 – 10 February 1841
Governors General
  • Lord Durham (1838–1839)
  • Lord Sydenham (1839–1841)
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Special Council of Lower Canada
In office
16 April 1840 – 10 February 1841
Governor GeneralLord Sydenham
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Megantick
In office
1841 – 1849 (three elections)
Preceded byNone; new position
Succeeded byDunbar Ross
Member of the Executive Council of the Province of Canada
In office
10 February 1841 – 10 March 1848
Governors General
  • Lord Sydenham (1841)
  • Major-General John Clitherow, Deputy (1841)
  • Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Downes Jackson, Administrator (1841–1842)
  • Sir Charles Bagot (1842–1843)
  • Sir Charles Metcalfe (1843–1845)
  • Earl Cathcart (1845–1847)
  • Earl of Elgin (1847–1848)
Provincial Secretary of the Province of Canada
In office
1 January, 1844 – 10 March, 1848
Preceded byNone; new position
Succeeded byRobert Baldwin Sullivan
Lieutenant Governor of Tobago
In office
1852–1854
Preceded byHenry Yates (acting)
Succeeded byHenry Yates (acting)
15th Governor of Prince Edward Island
In office
11 July 1854 – 25 May 1859
Preceded byAlexander Bannerman
Succeeded byCharles Young (Administrator)
7th Governor of South Australia
In office
4 March 1862 – 19 February 1868
Preceded byRichard Graves MacDonnell
Succeeded bySir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet
Personal details
Born(1798-08-11)11 August 1798
Ardfry, County Galway, Ireland
Died19 February 1868(1868-02-19) (aged 69)
Adelaide, Colony of South Australia
Resting placeWest Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide
SpouseCaroline Maria Gore
Children3 sons and 2 daughters, including Sir Malachy Bowes Daly and Caroline Louisa Daly
EducationSt Mary's College, Oscott
OccupationPublic servant; colonial administrator
AwardsKnight Bachelor, 1856
NicknameThe Perpetual Secretary

Sir Dominick Daly (11 August 1798 – 19 February 1868) was a British colonial public servant and administrator during the 19th century, who held positions in British North America, Tobago and South Australia.

Born in Ireland to a well-connected family, he obtained the position of private secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada in 1822. He eventually became the provincial secretary of Lower Canada, a member of the Special Council which governed Lower Canada following the Lower Canada Rebellion, and a member of the Legislative Assembly and provincial secretary of the Province of Canada. For a brief time in 1843, he was the sole member of the Executive Council of the Province of Canada. He then became part of a three-man council, advising the Governor General, Sir Charles Metcalfe. His decision to remain in office angered the Reform members of the Assembly, leading to him fighting a duel with one Reform member. He was dismissed from office when the Reformers were returned to power under Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin in 1848.

After losing office in Canada in 1848, Daly served on a royal commission in England concerning the New Forest and Waltham Forest. He then served as the Governor of Tobago from 1851 to 1852, followed by appointment as Governor of Prince Edward Island from 1854 to 1859. In 1862 he was appointed Governor of South Australia, an office he held until his sudden death on 19 February 1868 in Adelaide, South Australia.

Daly combined an aptitude for public affairs and diligence in his work, along with personal charm and affability. In Canada, he acquired the nickname of "the perpetual secretary", in light of his holding various administrative offices for twenty-five years.