William Bede Dalley, a prominent New South Wales barrister and parliamentarian, was also an important patron of literature and the arts. His own literary output included contributions to the Sydney Morning Herald and Sydney Mail (reviews and literary criticism), and his contributions to Sydney Punch (for which publication he provided financial backing), included 'a masterly series of satirical political biographies'. For a time he was also editor and part-proprietor of the Freeman's Journal.