Meade, Sir John (1642–1707), lawyer and politician, was eldest son of Lt.-col. William Meade of Ballintober, Co. Cork, and his wife Elizabeth Travers. Educated at Kinsale, he entered TCD as a sizar on 28 May 1658, but took no degree. Educated at Gray's Inn, Meade entered King's Inns on 26 May 1668. He was knighted in August 1678.
In April 1682 Meade was involved in trials related to alleged catholic plotting in Munster, his brief being ‘to attend and manage the evidence on the king's behalf’ (CSPD 1682, 152). Resident at Ballintober, he held 1,031 acres (417.24 ha) from the crown c.1683. Meade was appointed a KC on 11 April 1685, and to a commission of oyer et terminer in Tipperary on 14 July 1685. In September 1685 he adjudicated in a case in Tipperary that saw numerous figures imprisoned for spreading rumours of an impending rebellion and a massacre of protestants; his conduct was criticised during a prolonged controversy. He subsequently served as seneschal of the palatinate of Tipperary (1686–1707). He may have served as attorney general to James II (qv), but this remains uncertain.
Meade, alongside Joseph Coghlan (qv), was MP for Trinity College in the Jacobite parliament of 1689, one of only a handful of protestants to sit in the parliament. He was a reluctant candidate, but according to Bishop William King (qv), who approved of him, the university refused to elect a catholic. Given Meade's subsequent career as an MP, his reputation was seemingly untarnished. Appointed a commissioner of applotment for Co. Cork on 10 April 1690, Meade was reappointed a KC in December 1690; he now became one of three counsel at law for the crown. He subsequently served as MP for Co. Tipperary (1692–3, 1695–9, 1703–7), one of a small number of MPs to sit in both the Jacobite and Williamite parliaments. Following the involvement of John Osborne (qv), the prime serjeant, in the ‘sole right’ controversy of 1692, the viceroy, Henry, Viscount Sidney (qv), sought to replace him with Meade, notwithstanding the fact that Meade's wife was a catholic. Objections were raised, and while Meade was eventually offered the post, he declined on the grounds that his own practice would impede the execution of his duties; more importantly, the post of prime serjeant was not profitable. Meade, along with James Sloane, unsuccessfully sought to obstruct the 1695 poll tax bill, but subsequently supported the lord chancellor, Charles Porter (qv), against allegations of favouritism towards catholics. He signed the association for the protection of William III (qv) in 1696. Meade was suggested as a possible replacement for Porter on the latter's death in December 1696, but would not have been acceptable to the Brodrick faction in parliament. In August 1697 he was suggested as a possible chairman of the committee of elections, due to his perceived independence from faction. In 1702–3 Meade purchased forfeited lands in Co. Cork (3,674 acres; 1,487 ha) and Co. Tipperary (45 acres; 18.2 ha). He was created a baronet on 29 May 1703; the usual fee for the creation was waived. On 21 June 1703 he was granted the lands of Milltown Britton, in Middlethird, Co. Tipperary, by trustee deed. He died on 12 January 1707.
Meade married first (1671) Mary Coppinger; secondly (14 June 1680) Elizabeth Redman of Ballylinch, Co. Kilkenny; they had at least one daughter, Elizabeth. He married thirdly (14 June 1688) Elizabeth Butler (1669–1757), daughter of Pierce Butler, 2nd Viscount Ikerrin. They had at least three sons and four daughters. The eldest surviving sons, Pierce (d. 1711) and Richard (1697–1744), later MP for Kinsale (1725–44), succeeded to the baronetcy in turn.