Richard Denis Meagher (11 January 1866 – 17 September 1931) was an Australian

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and was the first

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Lord Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

, serving from 1916 to 1917.

Early life

Meagher was born in Bathurst,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and educated at

St Stanislaus' College , motto_translation = But we (Trust) in the name of the Lord , established = , type = Independent secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Roman Catholic , religious_affiliation = V ...

, Bathurst and St Aloysius' College, Sydney. He became an

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously thre ...

to the solicitor J. A. B. Cahill in 1883 and

Paddy Crick William Patrick Crick (10 February 1862 – 23 August 1908) was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor. He was described by author Cyril Pearl as an irresistible demagogue, who "looked like a prize fighter, dressed like a ...

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 (14 November 1867 – 7 May 1933) was a ferry boat master in Sydney, Australia, who was charged with attempting to poison his wife. A large part of the Sydney public came to believe that Dean was innocent and that his wife and her moth ...

of attempted 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-Phillip in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

in July 1895. However, on 18 July, Meagher had boasted to

Julian Salomons Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons (formerly Solomons) (4 November 1835 – 6 April 1909) was a barrister, royal commissioner, Solicitor General, Chief Justice and member of parliament. He was the only Chief Justice of New South Wales to be appointe ...

that he had tricked Dean into admitting his guilt. Although Dean's confession to his lawyer was a matter of

solicitor-client privilege In common law jurisdictions, legal professional privilege protects all communications between a professional legal adviser (a solicitor, barrister or attorney) 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,

Jack Want John Henry "Jack" Want (4 May 1846 – 22 November 1905) was an Australian barrister and politician, as well as the 19th Attorney-General of New South Wales. Early life Want was born at the Glebe, Sydney, the fourth son of nine children of Ra ...

. 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 conversation 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 Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

in 1898 and in September gained new fame by horsewhipping John Norton in

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in 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 sec ...

for calling Meagher in ''

the Truth The Truth may refer to: Film * ''The Truth'' (1920 film) starring Madge Kennedy * ''The Truth'' (1960 film) or ''La Vérité'', a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot starring Brigitte Bardot * ''The Truth'' (1988 film), a Hong Kong trial crim ...

'' "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 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, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842 ...

from 1901 to 1920 and was the first

Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

. From 1907 to 1917 he returned to parliament as the member for

Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

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 (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

in 1916. He was defeated as an independent labor candidate in 1917, but Premier

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), Labor Party, ...

appointed him to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

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 Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. 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 is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of th ...

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

Hospital in 1931 aged 65. Meagher was buried on 19 September 1931 at

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

Honours

Meagher was appointed a papal knight of the Order of St Gregory in 1928.

Notes

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meagher, Richard Denis Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly New South Wales lawyers Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney 1866 births 1931 deaths Deaths from nephritis Speakers of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Burials at Waverley Cemetery People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great Disbarred lawyers