Building ACity

Canberra Residents Have Little Reason To Know Charles Daley?s Name Or Be Aware Of The Details Of His Life In Victoria As ATeacher, Botanist, Writer And HistorianBut They Might Be More Familiar With The Name Of His Eldest Son, Charles Studdy c.s. Daley, Whose Close Connection With The Story Of Canberra For Over Fifty Years Is The Subject Of This BookFather And Son Had Much In CommonBoth Took Seriously The Notion Of Public Service As AHigh And Honourable CallingDaley Senior Retired After Fortysix Years Of Zealous And Effective Teaching In Victorian Schools, And Thereafter Devoted His Energies To Numerous Voluntary Cultural And Educational ProjectsHis Son Was To Be Involved With AWide Range Of Community Groups In Canberra During His Working Life With The Commonwealth Government And In RetirementBoth Men Shared ASchoolmasterly Desire To Educate Others, To Help Their Fellow Australians Appreciate Their Country?s History And Its Unique But Fragile EnvironmentDuring His Lifetime, Daley Senior Published ANumber Of Wellregarded Books, Including Two That Became Standard References In Their FieldHis Last Book, The Story Of Gippsland, Was Published By His Sons After His DeathC.sDaley, For His Part, Always Hoped That He Would Be Given The Chance To Write The Official History Of Canberra, Whose Early Years He Had Been So Closely Involved WithHe Was Disappointed In This Hope, But Until The End Of His Life He Saw Himself As An Authentic Spokesman For Early Canberra And AReliable Witness To Those First Decades When The Commonwealth?s New City Was Being Planned And Built On The Limestone PlainsJennifer Horsfield Is AWriter And Historian With ASpecial Interest In The Landscape And Human Stories Of The Canberra RegionThis Is Her Fifth Book.
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