Thomas Meagher (MP)

Thomas Meagher (1796–1874) was an Irish businessman and politician from Waterford.

His father, also named Thomas Meagher (1763–1837), had emigrated from Tipperary to St. John's, Newfoundland, where he became a successful businessman.[1] 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,[2] 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.[3] He was re-elected in 1852, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1857 general election.[3]

Meagher's own son, Thomas Francis Meagher (1823–1867), was a leader of the Young Irelanders in the Rebellion of 1848. His death sentence for the rebellion was commuted to transportation to Australia, from where 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.

Death

Thomas Meagher, who died in 1874, having been predeceased by all save possibly one of his children; the year of death of his daughter, Christine Mary Meagher, is unknown. Thomas Meagher's grave can be seen at Faithlegge Church cemetery outside Waterford City.

References

  1. ↑ "Meagher, Thomas". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
  2. ↑ Hansard, Joseph (1870). The History, Topography and Antiquities (natural and Ecclesiastical) with Biographical Sketches of the Nobility, of the County and City of Waterford. Dungarvan. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922. A New History of Ireland. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 317–18. ISBN 0901714127. ISSN 0332-0286.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Henry Barron, Bt
Thomas Wyse		 Member of Parliament for Waterford City
1847 – 1857
With: Daniel O'Connell Jnr 1847–48
Sir Henry Barron, Bt 1848–52
Robert Keating 1852–57		 Succeeded by
Michael Dobbyn Hassard
John Aloysius Blake


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