Allen Daley

{{Short description|British public health official (1887–1969)}}

File:Allen Daley in 1951.jpg

Sir William Allen Daley (19 February 1887–February 1969) was a British medical officer of health at the time of the formation of the UK's National Health Service (NHS).{{cite web |last=Godber|first=George|title=Sir William Allen Daley {{!}} RCP Museum |url=https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/sir-william-allen-daley |website=history.rcplondon.ac.uk |publisher=Royal College of Physicians |access-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008085256/https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/sir-william-allen-daley |archive-date=8 October 2022}}{{cite web |title=Sir (William) Allen Daley - National Portrait Gallery |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw100455/Sir-William-Allen-Daley |website=www.npg.org.uk |access-date=8 October 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Daley, Sir (William) Allen (1887-1969) |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/h66zzsyr |website=Wellcome Collection |access-date=8 October 2022 |language=en}}{{cite journal |title=William Allen Daley |journal=Lancet |date=8 March 1969 |volume=1 |issue=7593 |pages=534–535 |pmid=4179612 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4179612/ |issn=0140-6736}}

Daley was born in Bootle in 1887. He qualified as a medical doctor in 1912,{{cite web |last1=Virginia |first1=Smith |title=The backstage man: Sir Allen Daley (1887-1969) {{!}} Alumni {{!}} From Fever to Consumption - The Story of Healthcare in Hackney |url=http://health.hackneysociety.org/page_id__38.aspx?path=0p5p |website=health.hackneysociety.org |access-date=25 January 2024 |date=2009}} and married Mary Toomey in 1913. Daley was responsible for the organisation of London's health services during World War 2, and was knighted in the 1944 Birthday Honours.{{cite news |title=The London Gazette |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36544/supplement/2565 |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=www.thegazette.co.uk |issue=Supplement 36544 |date=2 June 1944}} Daley retired in 1952.

Daley and his wife had two children, including medical doctor and author Raymond Daley (1917-1989).{{cite web |last1=Goodwin |first1=JF |title=Raymond Daley |url=https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/raymond-daley |website=history.rcplondon.ac.uk |publisher=Royal College of Physicians |access-date=25 January 2024 |date=1989}}