It is approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of the Perth central business district, and within the City of Subiaco local government area.

The Daglish railway station opened in 1924 in response to population growth in the neighbouring suburb of Subiaco.

The following year, the Municipality of Subiaco bought the land west of the railway station to sell for housing.

Today, the suburb has significant heritage value due to its uniform streetscape, with most original homes still standing.

Daglish is a suburb located approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of the central business district (CBD) of Perth, the capital and largest city of Western Australia, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the Indian Ocean.

To the east is the suburb of Subiaco, to the south and west is Shenton Park, and to the north is Jolimont.

[5]: 4 Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Mooro group of the Whadjuk Noongar people.

[6]: 32 [7] In 1925, the Subiaco Council negotiated with the minister for works to acquire the land east of the station to create a suburb also named Daglish.

[9] The land was more expensive than neighbouring suburb West Subiaco (now called Shenton Park), but still cheaper than most areas of Perth.

[8]: 244  A few roads were surfaced with slag; the rest were just sand tracks, which frequently caused vehicles to get bogged.

Architectural styles used include Inter-War Californian Bungalow, Old English, Mediterranean and Spanish Mission, Functionalist and Art Deco.

[10] In 1933, the Workers' Home Board, which was the state's public housing authority, chose Daglish as a suitable site for its development.

[12][13] The Stephenson–Hepburn Report also proposed the development of the University of Western Australia's endowment lands, some of which covered Daglish.

A large area of land north-west of Cunningham Terrace, used as a water compensation basin, was turned into a park in 1969 and 1970.

The final part of Daglish to be developed was the land north-west of the park, which was subdivided and sold in the early 1970s.

[8]: 315 [14] In the early 1980s, the City of Subiaco sealed all laneways in Daglish, which were previously made of dirt.

The uniform streetscape is rare compared to many other older areas of Perth, where houses have been demolished to make way for newer buildings.

In 2017, the City of Subiaco proposed that parts of Daglish be designated as Heritage Areas under a new town planning scheme.

This would have introduced restrictions in order to preserve the heritage of Daglish, however, after feedback from the community, this proposal did not eventuate.

Due to its proximity to a train station, Daglish was listed by the state government as a possible place for infill and high density development, however the Subiaco council does not support this.

[17] The most common ancestries that Daglish residents identified with at the 2021 census were English (39.5%), Australian (30.5%), Irish (10.9%), Scottish (10.9%), and Chinese (7.9%).

Grassing and planting of ornamental trees was mostly complete by the end of 1970, with paths, fitness equipment and a playground added over the following years.

At first, it was known as Daglish Reserve, but in 1980, it was renamed to its present name, in honour of Clifford Sadlier, who was a Victoria Cross recipient and resident of Subiaco.

[34] Daglish lies within the North Ward of the City of Subiaco local government area.

[35] For the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (lower house), Daglish is part of the electoral district of Nedlands, which is part of the North Metropolitan Region of the Western Australian Legislative Council (upper house).