A native of Salem, Massachusetts, Hartwell Daley came to Prince Edward Island in 1959. During the 1960's he worked as the manager of the Charlottetown bureau of the Journal Pioneer and pursued an active free- lance career, writing for numerous Canadian publications and serving as special events broadcaster for CFCY radio and television.

In addition to journalism, Daley worked for the provincial government in 1962 and 1963 as Director of Research and Development, Director for ARDA and Director of Adult Education. In 1964 he was the centennial Publicity Director and in 1967 he was editor of the "Prince Edward Island Teacher". Other projects included the organization of a government documents library and negotiation of a telephone company labour dispute.

In 1969 Daley left Prince Edward Island for a post at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick; returning to the Island in 1977 to head the School of Journalism at Holland College. Daley retired in 1979 to devote his time to writing and broadcasting. That same year he was commissioned to write "Volunteers in Action", a history of the Red Cross on P.E.I., which was published in 1981. At the age of 69, in February of 1984, Daley died in Truro, Nova Scotia.