William Bede DalleyPrint Page

The stained glass window commemorates patriot, scholar and statesman, William Bede Dalley. 

William Bede Dalley (5 July 1831 – 28 October 1888) was an Australian politician and barrister and was the first Australian appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was a leading lay representative and champion of the Catholic community and was known for his parliamentary and legal eloquence.

Until the present week the marble bust in the Legislative Assembly was the only memorial in Sydney of William Bede Dalley. The new memorial is in St. Mary's Cathedral — a building with which the eloquence of the brilliant Australian is in a special way associated. A few steps to the right on entering St. Mary`s by the College-street main door brings the visitor in front of the Dalley window. The subject is "The Crowning with Thorns," and the inscription on the brass plate beneath runs : "In memory of the Right Hon. William Bede Dalley, P.C., and in recognition of his services to his Church, his Country, and the Empire ; died 28th October, 1888. R.I.P."  

Among the subscribers to the window, which cost £250, were Lord Carrington, Sir Frederick Darley, Sir Joseph Abbott, Sir Patrick Jennings, the late Sir John Robertson, the late Sir John Hay, and the late Sir William Macleay. Very appropriately the window, within a few feet of the Dalley memorial, is a tribute to one who in his day was highly esteemed as a ripe old scholar. The subject is "The Scourging at the Pillar," and the record on the tablet reads : "Pray for the soul of William Augustine Duncan, in memory of whom some of his friends gave this window." Dalley and Duncan were intimately associated in life, and the cathedral authorities have displayed good taste in having the memorials side by side.
Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser (NSW), 
30 June 1893.
 

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