Richard Meagher
Encyclopedia
Richard Denis Meagher MLA (11 January 1866 – 17 September 1931) was an Australia
n solicitor
and was Lord Mayor of Sydney from 1916 to 1917.
, New South Wales
and educated at St Stanislaus' College, Bathurst and St Aloysius College, Sydney. He became an articled clerk
to the solicitor to J. A. B. Cahill in 1883 and Paddy Crick
in 1887. In January 1891, he married Alice Maude Osmond. He became Crick's partner in 1892 and mainly practiced in the police court. Meagher unsuccessfully defended George Dean
of murder, but persuaded two out of three royal commissioners in a subsequent inquiry to find that the conviction was unsafe and, as a result, Dean was pardoned.
in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
in July 1895. However, on 18 July, Meagher had boasted to Julian Salomons
that he had tricked Dean into admitting his guilt. Although Dean's confession to his lawyer was a matter of solicitor-client privilege
, Salomons found himself compelled to pass on this information to the Attorney General, John Want. Rumors of Dean's confession began to circulate and in September, Want was questioned on it, but declined to comment. On 24 September, Dean petitioned Parliament to clear his name and next day Want read Salomons' account of Meagher's coversation to the House.
Although Meagher had vigorously denied the conversation in the House, Smith admitted giving Dean arsenic. As a result, Dean, Meagher, Crick, Meagher's assistant, Daniel Green, and a witness, Jane Reynolds, were charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice. On 8 October, Meagher confessed and resigned from Parliament, saying "I am determined to endure mental torture no longer, nor to stifle the voice of truth … This awful lesson of my life I will endeavour to atone for in another clime". Nevertheless, he spent the rest of his life in Sydney. Meagher was found guilty of conspiracy, but this conviction was quashed on appeal. He was struck off the roll of solicitors soon after, and supported himself from lectures and as a land agent.
Meagher was elected to represent the Tweed
as a Protectionist
in 1898 and in September gained new fame by horsewhipping John Norton
in Pitt Street
for calling Meagher in the Truth "Mendax Meagher" and the "premier perjurer of our public life and the champion criminal of the continent", causing Norton to attempt to shoot him. Meagher was fined £
5 for assault. He held the Tweed until its abolition in 1904 and was an alderman on Sydney Municipal Council
from 1901 to 1920 and was the first Labor
Mayor of Sydney. From 1907 to 1917 he returned to parliament as the member for Phillip
and was Speaker from 1913 to 1917. He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1909 and was its vice-president in 1913 and 1915 to 1916 and president from 1914 to 1915. He was expelled from the party for supporting conscription
in 1916. He was defeated as an independent labor candidate in 1917, but Premier William Holman
appointed him to the New South Wales Legislative Council
in May 1917.
Meagher failed to be readmitted as a solicitor in 1900, 1902 and 1904, but succeeded in 1909. Nevertheless, the Law Institute appealed to the Australian High Court successfully against his readmission. He applied to be admitted again unsuccessfully in 1917 and 1919, and failed to gain leave for an appeal to the High Court in March 1920. In February, Meagher resigned from the Legislative Council to run unsuccessfully for the five-member seat of Sydney
. Later that year, parliament passed a bill to reinstate Meagher as a solicitor.
Meagher's wife died in 1924. Richard Meagher died of nephritis
in Lewisham
Hospital in 1931 aged 65. Meagher was buried on the 19th September, 1931 at Waverley Cemetery
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
and was Lord Mayor of Sydney from 1916 to 1917.
Early life
Meagher was born in BathurstBathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and educated at St Stanislaus' College, Bathurst and St Aloysius College, Sydney. He became an articled clerk
Articled clerk
An articled clerk, also known as an articling student, is an apprentice in a professional firm in Commonwealth countries. Generally the term arises in the accountancy profession and in the legal profession. The articled clerk signs a contract, known as "articles of clerkship", committing to a...
to the solicitor to J. A. B. Cahill in 1883 and Paddy Crick
Paddy Crick
William Patrick Crick, known as Paddy Crick or W.P.Crick was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor...
in 1887. In January 1891, he married Alice Maude Osmond. He became Crick's partner in 1892 and mainly practiced in the police court. Meagher unsuccessfully defended George Dean
George Dean (poisoner)
George Dean was a ferry-boat master in Sydney, Australia, who was charged with attempting to poisoning his wife. A large part of the Sydney public came to believe that Dean was innocent and that his wife and her mother had conspired against him...
of murder, but persuaded two out of three royal commissioners in a subsequent inquiry to find that the conviction was unsafe and, as a result, Dean was pardoned.
Political career
On the strength of Meagher's defence of Dean, he was elected as the member for Sydney-PhillipElectoral district of Sydney-Phillip
Sydney-Phillip was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It was located in central Sydney and named after Arthur Phillip; it was created in 1894 from part of South Sydney. In 1904 its name was changed to Phillip.-Members for Sydney-Phillip:...
in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
in July 1895. However, on 18 July, Meagher had boasted to Julian Salomons
Julian Salomons
The Honourable Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons was a barrister, royal commissioner, solicitor-general, chief justice and member of parliament. He was the only chief justice in New South Wales to be appointed and resign before he was ever sworn into office...
that he had tricked Dean into admitting his guilt. Although Dean's confession to his lawyer was a matter of solicitor-client privilege
Solicitor-client privilege
In common law jurisdictions, legal professional privilege protects all communications between a professional legal adviser and his or her clients from being disclosed without the permission of the client...
, Salomons found himself compelled to pass on this information to the Attorney General, John Want. Rumors of Dean's confession began to circulate and in September, Want was questioned on it, but declined to comment. On 24 September, Dean petitioned Parliament to clear his name and next day Want read Salomons' account of Meagher's coversation to the House.
Although Meagher had vigorously denied the conversation in the House, Smith admitted giving Dean arsenic. As a result, Dean, Meagher, Crick, Meagher's assistant, Daniel Green, and a witness, Jane Reynolds, were charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice. On 8 October, Meagher confessed and resigned from Parliament, saying "I am determined to endure mental torture no longer, nor to stifle the voice of truth … This awful lesson of my life I will endeavour to atone for in another clime". Nevertheless, he spent the rest of his life in Sydney. Meagher was found guilty of conspiracy, but this conviction was quashed on appeal. He was struck off the roll of solicitors soon after, and supported himself from lectures and as a land agent.
Meagher was elected to represent the Tweed
Electoral district of Tweed
Tweed is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Geoff Provest of the National Party of Australia. It includes eastern Tweed Shire, including Tweed Heads, Kingscliff, Fingal Head, Chinderah, Cudgen, Bogangar, Pottsville and...
as a Protectionist
Protectionist Party
The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...
in 1898 and in September gained new fame by horsewhipping John Norton
John Norton (Australian journalist)
John Norton, , was an English-born Australian journalist, editor and member of the New South Wales Parliament. He was a writer and newspaper proprietor best known for his Sydney newspaper the Truth...
in Pitt Street
Pitt Street, Sydney
Pitt Street is a major street in central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sections after a substantial stretch of it was removed to make way for Sydney's...
for calling Meagher in the Truth "Mendax Meagher" and the "premier perjurer of our public life and the champion criminal of the continent", causing Norton to attempt to shoot him. Meagher was fined £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
5 for assault. He held the Tweed until its abolition in 1904 and was an alderman on Sydney Municipal Council
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
from 1901 to 1920 and was the first Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Mayor of Sydney. From 1907 to 1917 he returned to parliament as the member for Phillip
Electoral district of Phillip
Phillip was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, in central Sydney and named after Arthur Phillip, created in 1904 from part of Sydney-Phillip. It was initially south of Liverpool Street, east of George Street and City Road, north of...
and was Speaker from 1913 to 1917. He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1909 and was its vice-president in 1913 and 1915 to 1916 and president from 1914 to 1915. He was expelled from the party for supporting conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
in 1916. He was defeated as an independent labor candidate in 1917, but Premier William Holman
William Holman
William Arthur Holman was an Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Australia, who split with the party on the conscription issue in 1916 during World War I, and immediately became Premier of a conservative Nationalist Party Government.-Early life:Holman was born in St Pancras, London,...
appointed him to the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
in May 1917.
Meagher failed to be readmitted as a solicitor in 1900, 1902 and 1904, but succeeded in 1909. Nevertheless, the Law Institute appealed to the Australian High Court successfully against his readmission. He applied to be admitted again unsuccessfully in 1917 and 1919, and failed to gain leave for an appeal to the High Court in March 1920. In February, Meagher resigned from the Legislative Council to run unsuccessfully for the five-member seat of Sydney
Electoral district of Sydney
Sydney is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of New South Wales in Inner Sydney. It includes the commercial centre of the Sydney CBD; the suburbs and localities of Barangaroo, Broadway, Chinatown, Chippendale, Darling Harbour, Dawes Point, Elizabeth Bay,...
. Later that year, parliament passed a bill to reinstate Meagher as a solicitor.
Meagher's wife died in 1924. Richard Meagher died of nephritis
Nephritis
Nephritis is inflammation of the nephrons in the kidneys. The word "nephritis" was imported from Latin, which took it from Greek: νεφρίτιδα. The word comes from the Greek νεφρός - nephro- meaning "of the kidney" and -itis meaning "inflammation"....
in Lewisham
Lewisham, New South Wales
Lewisham is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lewisham is located 8 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council. The postcode is 2049...
Hospital in 1931 aged 65. Meagher was buried on the 19th September, 1931 at Waverley Cemetery
Waverley Cemetery
The Waverley Cemetery opened in 1877 and is a cemetery located on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. It is noted for its largely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments. The cemetery contains the graves of many significant Australians including the poet Henry Lawson and...