Sir Francis Anthony Meere (24 July 189515 April 1985) was a senior Australian public servant. He was Comptroller-General of Customs between 1952 and 1960, heading first the

Department of Trade and Customs The Department of Trade and Customs was an Government of Australia, Australian government department that existed between 1901 and 1956. It was one of the inaugural government departments of Australia established at Federation of Australia, fede ...

and then the

Department of Customs and Excise The Department of Customs and Excise was an Government of Australia, Australian government department that existed between January 1956 and March 1975. Scope Information about the department's functions and government funding allocati ...

Life and career

Meere was born in Daylesford, Victoria on 24 July 1895. He was educated at the

Christian Brothers College, St Kilda St Mary's College (formerly Christian Brothers College, St Kilda, Presentation College, Windsor) is an independent Catholic co-educational secondary college, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school was founded in 1878 and is both o ...

. Meere joined the

Commonwealth Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Gov ...

in 1913 in Victoria in the Department of Trade and Customs. Between 1947 and 1952, Meeres was assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in the Department. He was promoted to Comptroller-General of Customs in 1952. Meere retired from his Customs position in July 1960, and soon after was appointed a director of Pope Industries Limited, a manufacturing business. Meere's first wife, Lady Helena Agnes Meere, died in December 1961. Meere died on 15 April 1985, and a Requiem Mass was held for him at St Christopher's Cathedral in Manuka, Canberra.

Awards

Meere was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his public service in June 1952. He was promoted to a Commander of the Order in 1955. In June 1960, Meere was made a Knight Bachelor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meere, Frank 1895 births 1985 deaths Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Knights Bachelor 20th-century Australian public servants People from Daylesford, Victoria People educated at St Mary's College, Melbourne