John Rowland Dacey

John Rowland Dacey (1 June 1854 – 11 April 1912) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He moved to Victoria, Australia, with his mother after his father died. Eventually orphaned, Dacey moved to Sydney with his wife and began working as a coachmaker.

Throughout his parliamentary career, Dacey campaigned for a garden suburb which would provide government-owned, low-cost housing to the working class. After his death, the garden suburb of Daceyville was built in Sydney and named in honour of him.

Dacey married Martha Ellen Douglass on 27 July 1878 at St John's Church, Horsham, Victoria. In 1883, Dacey worked as a coachmaker and established Dacey & Co. in Alexandria, Sydney. By 1901 he was helping to organise the Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia in Sydney and served as the Union's Secretary until his death. He combined these beliefs with his experience with the Wool and Basil Workers Union and the Labor platform. and spoke against it, for example at Coraki, New South Wales on 15 June 1899, based on his opposition to free trade.

Dacey campaigned for the district of Botany in 1894 and lost to the free trade supporter William Stephen. Dacey was successful in the 1895 election, defeating Stephen for the seat.

Dacey became a senior party figure in the late 1890s and began to work on political strategy to win support in suburban seats and from white-collar voters. He stood in opposition to his party's support for the Premiership of Sir George Reid and instead threatened to resign if the party did not switch its support to William Lyne's Protectionist Party. At a Labor Party conference in 1899, the party executive decided to put forward the protectionism/free trade debate to a referendum of all party members, despite Dacey's campaigning. Dacey's standing in the Labor Party continued to grow: he was the party's treasurer from 1901 to 1910 and on the Party Central Executive in 1912. while serving as the Colonial Treasurer and was granted a state funeral, which took place in St Brigid's Church in Marrickville, New South Wales and was well attended; a contemporary newspaper reported that along "the entire route of the procession, the footpaths were thick with people."

Dacey had campaigned for the government to provide low-cost housing to the working class from the 1890s to his death; he stated that "the time has come when we should create a Garden City and provide houses of an up-to-date character at the lowest possible rental". His plans were based on the garden city movement, in particular to be modelled on the garden city of Letchworth in Hertfordshire, England. After his death, his plans were partially implemented by the Holman ministries from 1913 to 1920 in Southern Sydney. Daceyville, named in honour of John Dacey, was Australia's first public housing estate and included Australia's first cul-de-sac.

A suburb adjacent to his electorate was created and named after him, Daceyville. A recreational park area was also created, Rowland Park.