Researching Thomas Meagher

In 1852, Meagher escaped and made his way to the United States, where he settled in New York City. He studied law, worked as a journalist, and traveled to present lectures on the Irish cause.

He married for a second time in New York. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Meagher joined the U.S. Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was most notable for recruiting and leading the Irish Brigade, and encouraging support among Irish immigrants for the Union. By his first marriage in Ireland, he had one surviving son; the two never met.

Following the Civil War, Meagher was appointed Montana's Territorial Secretary of State by President Andrew Johnson, and served as acting territorial governor. In 1867, Meagher drowned in the Missouri River after falling from a steamboat at Fort Benton, Montana. His death has been disputed by historians, with varying hypotheses including weakness from dysentery, intoxication, suicide, and murder. A 2016 analysis by Timothy Egan, in The Immortal Irishman, suggested Meagher may have been murdered by Montana political opponents.

A native of Menzies, Thomas Meagher attended Christian Brothers College, Perth from 1911 to 1919, and completed first-year science at the University of Western Australia in 1920. He subsequently studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, receiving his degree in 1925.

On 8 March 1927 he married Marguerite Winifred Hough (died 1952) at the Chapel of Christian Brothers College.

He was elected to represent Victoria Park Ward on the Perth City Council in 1937. In 1939, he was appointed Lord Mayor of Perth City Council.

He was President of the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia from 1945 to 1947; in that role he helped set up RAC Insurance Pty Ltd and the National Safety Council of Western Australia.

He was knighted in 1947 and, on 18 November 1953, married Doris Ita Walsh at CBC Chapel.

He also served as president of the Kings Park Board from 1954 to 1979, chairman of the Trustees of the Western Australian Museum from 1959 to 1973, and president of the Western Australian division of the Australian Olympic Federation from 1947 to 1971.

Thomas Meagher died in Perth, three months past his 77th birthday, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.

By 1808 Meagher had bought the Mary, which he replaced the following year with the Triton; in the fall of 1809 he shipped more than 1,350 quintals of cod and other products to Waterford. On the return voyage the Triton carried provisions and 62 migrants. His trading routes expanded to include other ports in North America. Demand for fish such as cod in southern Europe was growing and profits from the passenger and supply trades were considerable.

Meagher had sent his eldest son Thomas to Ireland to establish a branch of his business in Waterford. The younger Thomas married Alicia Quan, daughter of Alicia Forristall and Thomas Quan, of Wyse, Cashen and Quan, one of the largest trading companies in Waterford, at her parents' residence. Their most famous child, Thomas Francis Meagher, one of five siblings, was born on 23 August 1823.

Meagher's business in St. John's had suffered a major setback when the premises were wiped out in the Great Fire of 1817. The firm was rebuilt but never recovered from the loss which in 1820 declared insolvency and was dissolved on 31 August 1820.

His father, also named Thomas Meagher (1763–1837), had emigrated from Tipperary to St. John's, Colony of Newfoundland, where he became a successful businessman. The younger Thomas was born in St. John's and returned to Ireland in his 20s to represent his father's business interests, where he prospered.

Meagher was Mayor of Waterford in 1843 and 1844, the first Roman Catholic mayor of the city since the penal laws. He was elected at the 1847 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Waterford City. He was re-elected in 1852, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1857 general election.

Meagher and his wife (Alicia Quan Meagher) had five children, only two of whom survived childhood. One of these, Thomas Francis Meagher (1823–1867), would garner renown as a leader of the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. The death sentence for his role in the rebellion was commuted to transportation to Australia. He escaped and went to United States, where he rose to the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War, and later became acting governor of the Montana Territory.