In 1874, after travelling from New South Wales, he managed Dr John Waugh's Pearlwell sugar plantation on the
Brisbane River. The site is east of Oxley Creek, where it flows into the Brisbane River. From 1875 to 1881 he was editor of the
Ipswich Observer. He was later the editor of
The Toowoomba Chronicle. where he was a strong supporter of
Queensland Premier Thomas McIlwraith. They rehearsed in Brisbane before performances in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The show collapsed in Melbourne. In 1894 he was commissioned to investigate the conditions of
Aboriginal Australians in Queensland; despite his consequent proposals, only some of his ideas were embodied in the
Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897. Meston was, from 1898 to 1903, the
Southern Protector of Aboriginals for Queensland. During his time as the Protector, Meston visited many Aboriginal communities and camps across Queensland and as an amateur ethnologist and linguist he documented Aboriginal culture and language. Meston collected words and wordlists from sites across Queensland which were later collated into various notebooks and cuttings. These notebooks are now held by the
State Library of Queensland are a valuable resource for those researching Indigenous Language. In 1903 Meston was told that his services were no longer required. 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. ==Commemorations==