He was the younger son of David Dale, an employee of the East India Company and judge of the city court there, and his wife, Ann Elizabeth, daughter of the Revd George Douglas of Aberdeen.

Dale's adult career began in the office of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company, and in 1852, at the age of twenty-three, he was appointed secretary to the Middlesbrough and Guisborough section of the line.

On 27 January 1853 he married a widow, Annie Backhouse Whitwell, née Robson (d. 1886), who already had two children; another son and daughter were born to them.

In recognition of Dale's services to the Iron Trades Conciliation Board he was publicly presented in 1881 with an address and a portrait painted by Walter William Ouless.

Dale's important position within industry led to his appointment on several royal commissions, among which were those on trade depression (1885–86); on mining royalties (1889–93); and on labour (1891–94).

In his honour a Sir David Dale chair of economics was instituted in 1909 at Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne, then part of Durham University.

A memorial lectureship on labour problems was also initiated at Darlington, the first lecture being delivered by Sir Edward Grey on 28 October 1910.