H.J. Daley

Clerk with a 'Velvet fist'

If the title 'Father of Modern Campbelltown' was given out, most agree there could only be one candidate -

Harley James Daley (1906-1987).

As Town Clerk for a whopping 41 years, he ran the Council with a velvet fist and watched over Campbelltown as it grew from 8000 people into a city of more than 130 000.

The only break in his term came with World War II when he joined the ill-fated 8th Division, was captured by the Japanese, and spent three and a half years in Changi Prison.

Beginning his career as a junior clerk at Colo Shire in 1920, Harley was later appointed Town Clerk of a united Campbelltown Council.

The Campbelltown Agricultural Society, Lions Club, Golf Club, RSL, Masonic Lodge, regional hospitals and countless sporting groups can tell tales of his involvement, and in 1961 he was awarded the MBE for his services.

Harley admitted to being 'the proudest man in Campbelltown' on his retirement in 1971 when the Council named the new city library in his honour. He died in 1987."

Extracted from, Campbelltown Clippings, 1993. Published by Campbelltown City Council. Reproduced with the permission of the author, Jeff McGill.