Background
Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston.
anthropologist explorer journalist author
Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston.
In 1874, after travelling from New South Wales, he managed Doctor Waugh"s Pearlwell sugar plantation at Street Lucia on the Brisbane River. The site is now part of the University of Queensland grounds
From 1875 to 1881 he was editor of the Ipswich Observer. He was later the editor of The Toowoomba Chronicle.
From 1878 to 1882 he represented Rosewood in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, where he was a strong supporter of Queensland Premier Thomas McIlwraith.
He lost his seat when a civil court case resulted in bankruptcy. In 1881 he moved to Far North Queensland where he edited the Townsville Herald for a short time before moving to Cairns where he was editor of the The Cairns Post and lived on the Barron River until 1889.
Although he claimed to be interested in sugar-growing, he never actually did so, and made his living from journalism, speculation and property management. In January 1889 Meston led a government expedition to the Bellenden Ker Range and explored its summit.
The expedition was considered a success, and this led to further official engagements.
In 1894 he was commissioned to investigate the conditions of Aboriginals in Queensland. Despite his consequent proposals, little of his ideas were embodied in the Aboriginal Protection and Restrictions of the Sale of Opium Acting 1897. Meston was, from 1898 to 1903, the Southern Protector of Aboriginals for Queensland.
In 1910 he was appointed director of the Queensland Government Tourist Bureau in Sydney.
Throughout his life he was a prolific writer and, in addition to the newspapers he edited, he published frequently in The Queenslander, The Brisbane Courier and many other papers. Archibald Meston is commemorated in the names of two plants collected by him on Bellenden Ker, Garcinia mestonii and Piper mestonii.
Meston Street in Mitchelton, Brisbane was named after him in 1938.