[2] He started going to sea aged 16 on the Mayflower, a ship belonging to his father Samuel Rootsey Daldy,[3] an Ilford coal merchant.

[5] On 10 December 1840 he sailed from Liverpool in his schooner Shamrock, arriving in Auckland in July 1841, but remained a seafarer.

[10] He was also a Justice of the Peace, Auckland Chamber of Commerce council member, Bank of New Zealand auditor, Auckland City Council member, New Zealand Insurance Co. director and volunteer fire brigade captain.

[12] They had 4 children, Frances Catherine Wrigley (25 April 1842[1]-19 June 1879),[13] Maryanne Maria Mee Davies (7 August 1848 – 24 June 1926),[14] Edith Crush Daldy (1850[1]-6 February 1924)[15] and William Crush Daldy Jr (14 February 1852[1]-1934).

He was a minister without portfolio in the government of William Fox, and was also a member of the Auckland Provincial Council[20] in 1857 and from 1861 to 1864.