Richard Meagher
| Richard Denis Meagher | |
|---|---|
| 47th Lord Mayor of Sydney | |
|
In office 1916–1917 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Watkins Richards |
| Succeeded by | James Joynton Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 January 1866 Bathurst, Australia |
| Died | 17 September 1931 (aged 65) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
Richard Denis Meagher MLA (11 January 1866 – 17 September 1931) was an Australian solicitor and was the first Labor Lord Mayor of Sydney, serving from 1916 to 1917.
Meagher was born in Bathurst, 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.
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 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 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.
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