James Meehan (surveyor)

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 arrived in Australia on the Friendship in February 1800. He came under the assumed name James Mahon.^[4] He became an assistant to surveyor-general Charles Grimes and accompanied him on a number of expeditions. Meehan acted as assistant-surveyor while Grimes was absent for about three years. On Grimes' return in 1806 and in appreciation for his work, he was given a pardon for his political crimes. He developed a plan of Sydney in 1807^[5] (which was later used as the basis for the Old Sydney Town theme park^[6]).

In 1812, he was sent to Tasmania to survey the land. His 1811 map of Hobart contains detailed information on the early settlement.^[7] Meehan was appointed deputy surveyor-general in 1818. It was around this time that he named the settlement of Goulburn after Henry Goulburn, the Under-Secretary for War and the Colonies.

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]