Richard Goldsmith Meares

Richard Goldsmith Meares (1780-1862) was an early landholder and public official at the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.

Richard, born April 1780, was the son of William Meares of Killinboy, County Westmeath, and Elizabeth Goldsmith; his family's background was Anglo-Irish, his father's businesses were concerned with wine. He attended the Royal Academy to pursue an early interest in art, but a career as an officer in the British Army began after the outbreak of war with France.

Meares commissions began as ensign with the North Yorkshire militia in 1803, a promotion to the regular 7th Fusiliers followed soon after that; he eventually acquired the rank of cornet and sub-lieutenant in July 1810 with the 2nd Life Guards. His service included participating the Peninsula War, and a significant involvement in the Battle of Waterloo. He retired from his last position as a lieutenant while with the 8th Regiment of Foot in 1818, and occupied himself with art and horticulture. He left England aboard the Gilmore, a ship of colonists bound for the new colony in Western Australia, arriving with his family and servants in December 1829.

In 1829 Meares travelled to Western Australia to join the new colony on the Swan River, its later capital, initially in makeshift arrangements at Rockingham beach, then at The Rocks, Clarence, while awaiting the realisation of his £500 investment with Thomas Peel. After seeking assistance from Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet, he was offered a generous parcel at Van Diemen's Land, but moved instead to the upper reaches of the Swan in 1832. He was appointed to the position of police superintendent of Guildford, Western Australia on 22 August 1834, shortly after the government's formation of ex-servicemen into a mounted police force.

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