Below also see: Albert Meeks, 1898,
Albert Meeks, 1917

 

Clarence and Richmond Examiner, Sat 8 Jun 1895 ¹

MACLEAN POLICE COURT.

THURSDAY, before Messrs A Ross and J Read, J’sP.

    Albert Meek, deemed to be insane, was remanded to Grafton gaol for eight days medical treatment.

    Mr Read here left the Bench and Mr AH Garven took his seat.

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Clarence and Richmond Examiner, Sat 15 Jun 1895 ²

GRAFTON POLICE COURT.
———

    On Thursday, before Messrs L Jacobs and TT Bawden, J’sP.

    Albert Meeks, deemed to be insane, was on medical recommendation, ordered to be forwarded to the Hospital for the Insane, at Gladesville. The patient had been before the Court a month or two since, and discharged as being capable of taking care of himself, but had to be re-arrested.

 

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Albert Meeks, 1898

Clarence and Richmond Examiner, Sat 22 Oct 1898 ³

POLICE COURTS.

    At Grafton, yesterday, before Messrs F Doberer and E Hockey, J’sP.
…
    Yesterday, before Messrs L Jacobs and F Doberer, J’sP.

    Albert Meeks, of Mclean, deemed to be insane, was ordered to be forwarded to the Hospital for the Insane at Gladesville.

———◦———

At Maclean on Thursday, before Mr See,
…
    A Meek, charged with being of unsound mind was remanded to Grafton.

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The Clarence River Advocate, Tue 25 Oct 1898 ⁴

FACTS AND RUMOURS.
———

…
    Albert Meeks, who had been remanded from Mclean, was on Friday brought up at the Grafton Police Court and ordered to be forwarded to the hospital for the insane at Gladesville. He was taken down by the City of Grafton on Saturday.

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The Clarence River Advocate, Fri 28 Oct 1898 ⁵

A LIBEL CASE WITNESS.

ALBERT MEEKS, of Mclean, was last week sent to the hospital for insane at Gladesville. His insanity was to some extent religious. He had for some time past allowed his hair to grow, and when arrested he explained that his object in doing so was to climb to Heaven on it. On the eve of his arrest he placed a placard bearing the warning “Poison in the bananas” in the window of his fruit shop in Maclean. There are some who are of opinion Meeks’ madness, both on this and a former occasion, was to some extent assumed. 6 This individual was an important witness for plaintiffs in the recent ADVOCATE libel case. He admitted having received a half-crown to purchase a copy of the paper, which he produced for two pence, and in the witness box was most emphatic in his opinion that the article complained of was a libel. He could not explain the nature of a libel. Mr Gannon playfully asked him what color a libel was and how many legs it had, and to these and other questions he answered that he “knew a libel when he saw one.” Mr Gannon asked him if he had not been incarcerated in a lunatic asylum. Meeks cast his gaze around the Court, fixed his glassy eye first on the Judge and then on the jury, and replied, “If some of the people here had been in an asylum they would never have been let out.” Judge Heydon attached great importance to Meeks’ evidence, and expressed his disapproval in strong terms of the attempt to weaken the effect of his testimony by questions as to his mental condition.

 

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Albert Meeks, 1917

The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser, Tue 13 Mar 1917 ⁷

COMMERCIAL NEWS.
————

Sydney, Monday.

…
    Albert Meeks figured before the local Bench this week for indecency, and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment in Grafton Gaol. Judging by the complaints of this degenerate’s offences in various parts of the City,—the sentence did not err on the score of severity, said the “Argus.”

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Albert Meeks, Gaol photo sheet ⁸

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Gaol Photo Sheet - Transcribed Details

No. 260
Grafton

Date when Portrait was taken: 26-2-1916

Name: Albert Meeks

Native place: England Year of birth: 1871 Arrived       Ship: Orotava in Colony }   Year: 1893 Trade or occupation previous to conviction  } Gardener Religion: CE Education, degree of: R & W Height: 4' 10½" Weight     On committal: 123 in lbs     } On discharge: Colour of hair: Dark to Grey Colour of eyes: Brown

Marks or special features: Scar back right hand. Shin bones on both legs injured. Right big toe injured

(No. of previous Portrait ... )  PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS
Where and When				Offence.	Sentence
Maclean PC ditto ditto ditto	26 14   7 21	5 8 5 2	1903 1914 1915 1916	Vagrancy ditto Obscenely expose his person Obscenely expose his person	3 months HL. 1 month HL. 3 months HL 6 months HL.

 

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¹     Clarence and Richmond Examiner, (Grafton, NSW), Sat 8 Jun 1895, p. 5.

²     Clarence and Richmond Examiner, (Grafton, NSW), Sat 15 Jun 1895, p. 4.

³     Clarence and Richmond Examiner, (Grafton, NSW), Sat 22 Oct 1898, p. 8.

⁴     The Clarence River Advocate, (NSW), Tue 25 Oct 1898, p. 2.

⁵     The Clarence River Advocate, (NSW), Fri 28 Oct 1898, p. 2.

⁶     The full newspaper coverage of the Advocate libel case, tried at the Grafton Circuit Court, and Meeks’ evidence can be found in the following publications: The Clarence River Advocate, (NSW), Fri 15 Apr 1898, p. 2; The Clarence River Advocate, (NSW), Fri 22 Apr 1898, p. 2; and The Clarence River Advocate, (NSW), Tue 26 Apr 1898, p. 2.

⁷     The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser, (NSW), Tue 13 Mar 1917, p. 2.

⁸     SRNSW: NRS2258, [3/14032], Grafton Gaol photographic description book, Feb 1902-May 1921, No. 260, p. 157, R5125.

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