James Meehan (surveyor)

James Meahan
Born1774
Kingdom of Ireland, British Empire
Died21 April 1826
Macquarie Fields, Colony of New South Wales, British Empire
NationalityIrish Australian
OccupationSurveying
Years active1800 - 1822
Known forsurveying

James Meehan[1][2] (1774 – 21 April 1826) was an Irish Australian explorer and surveyor.

Meehan was born in Ireland, in Shinrone, County Offaly, in 1774. He was declared a rebel and given a life sentence in a trial after the Rebellion of 1798[3] and was one of a number of political prisoners who arrived in Australia on the Friendship in February 1800. He came under the assumed name James Mahon.[4] Two months later he became an assistant to Charles Grimes, the surveyor-general, and went with him to explore the Hunter River in 1801. He was also with Grimes on the expedition to explore King Island and Port Phillip in the summer of 1802–3. Grimes had a leave of absence from August 1803 to go to England, and during his absence for about three years, Meehan did much of his work with the title of assistant-surveyor. On Grimes' return in 1806 and in appreciation for his work, he was given a pardon for his political crimes. In October 1805, Governor King directed him to trace the course of the Nepean to the southward a little beyond Mount Taurus, and in October 1807 Meehan prepared his plan of Sydney,[5] (which was later used as the basis for the Old Sydney Town theme park[6]).

In 1812, Governor Macquarie sent him to Tasmania with instructions to remeasure the whole of the farms granted by former governors and himself. His 1811 map of Hobart contains detailed information on the early settlement.[7] He accompanied Hamilton Hume in some explorations in southern New South Wales in 1816, when Lake George was discovered, and in 1818 Meehan was appointed deputy surveyor-general. It was around this time that he named the settlement of Goulburn after Henry Goulburn, the Under-Secretary for War and the Colonies.

He endeavoured in this year without success to find a practicable road over the Shoalhaven River so that communication might be opened up with Jervis Bay, but continuing his efforts early in 1820 he went through some very difficult country after crossing the river from the east, and then connecting with his 1818 track.

In 1822, he resigned his position and was granted a pension of £100 a year in 1823. He died on 21 April 1826. He was a most capable and industrious official, and though he does not rank among the leading explorers, he did some very valuable work while carrying out his duties during the first 20 years of the nineteenth century.

He was a leader of the Catholic Church in Sydney, chairing the meeting in 1820 which began the raising of funds for a church.[8] He was largely responsible for choosing the site, on which St Mary's Cathedral now stands.[9]

  1. ^ Perry, T. M. (1967). "Meehan, James (1774–1826)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 2. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  2. ^ Dowd, Bernard Thomas (1970). "James Meehan". Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 3 (2): 8–12. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Irish Convicts to New South Wales 1788-1849 - James Meehan". Peter Mayberry.
  4. ^ "James Meehan, Notes on an address to the Society by B. T. Dowd". University of Wollongong, Australia.
  5. ^ "Plan of the town of Sydney in New South Wales, by Jas. Meehan, assistant surveyor of Lands by order of His Excellency Governor Bligh, 31st October 1807". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  6. ^ McCarthy, John E. (1999). "Heritage - You're Standing in It". Cartography. 28 (2): 41. doi:10.1080/00690805.1999.9714316.
  7. ^ Bolt, Frank (1981). "James Meehan's survey of Hobart Town in 1811" (PDF). Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 115: 5–16. doi:10.26749/rstpp.115.5. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Roman Catholic Chapel". Sydney Gazette. 15 July 1820. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  9. ^ Sternbeck, Michael (2022). "For a godly purpose: planning Saint Mary's Chapel in old Sydney-town" (PDF). Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 43: 1–24. Retrieved 6 January 2023.