Author: Dailey, William
Biography:
DAILEY, William (1814-33: ancestry.co.uk)
He was baptised on 28 Jan. at St. Mary’s, Witney, Oxfordshire, the son of Joseph Dailey, labourer, and his wife Mary (maiden name unknown). Nothing is known of his education but he became a clerk in the office of James Westell, attorney, at Witney. He dedicated his only volume of verse, The Return of the Victors, a poem in four books with notes, “To the Friends of Liberty,” and signed it “Witney, May, 1832.” It also contained “Songs of England’s Chivalry.” The volume was advertised locally in April and May 1832. He died on 9 July 1833 and was buried at St. Mary’s, Witney, on 12 July. The Oxford Journal, reporting his death, noted that his volume “contains some pleasing imagery, with a purity of sentiment and warmth of patriotism that would have done honour to the most exalted genius, and claim the tear of sympathy at his premature dissolution.” (ancestry.co.uk 17 Dec. 2023; findmypast.co.uk 17 Dec. 2023; OUCH 28 April, 19 May 1832; OJ 28 April, 19 May 1832, 20 July 1833) AA