[1] Meston migrated with his parents to Sydney in 1859, his family subsequently taking up farming at Ulmarra, New South Wales on the Clarence River.

[5] In 1874, after travelling from New South Wales, he managed Dr John Waugh's Pearlwell sugar plantation on the Brisbane River.

In January 1889 Meston led a government expedition to the Bellenden Ker Range and explored its summit.

In 1891 he persuaded a stock and commission agent named Brabazon Purcell to recruit Aboriginal men and women to perform in the "Wild Australia Show".

[2] 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.

[10] Apart from numerous writings as a journalist, as well as official reports to government authorities, several books were published by Meston: