He helped build the University of British Columbia's creative writing department and fostered the careers of several major Canadian writers.
Daniells was born in London (UK) on April 6, 1902, but received the bulk of his education in Canada following his family's relocation to Victoria, BC in 1910.
During that time, he helped establish a Creative Writing Department at UBC and also promoted the university's funding of studies in Canadian Literature.
Daniells helped the writing careers of Margaret Avison, Earle Birney, Joy Coghill, Daryl Duke, Roderick Haig-Brown, Eli Mandel, Margaret Laurence, Eric Nicol, Sheila Watson, Phyllis Webb, Adele Wiseman, and George Woodcock, among others.
As an academic, Daniells had broad focus, specializing in John Milton and seventeenth century English literature, but also published widely on Canadian literature and history, including the 1969 volume Alexander Mackenzie and the North West (Great Travellers Series, London, Faber and Faber).