He was born in
Durham on 2 March 1892 the son of Alworth Edward Merewether, a naval surgeon. He studied medicine at
Durham University graduating MB BS in 1914. In the
First World War, he served in the
Royal Navy, having been appointed a
temporary surgeon on 24 October 1914. He was
mentioned in despatches for his service with the British Naval Mission in Serbia in January 1916, and was also awarded the
Order of St Sava by the Kingdom of Serbia. After the war he started specialising in chest diseases. In 1927, he joined the staff of the Factory Department of the Home Office as a medical inspector. Here he was one of the first to identify the dangers of breathing
asbestos fibre and also identified
silicosis in sandblast operators. In 1928 he joined Dr H. E. Seiler, Medical Officer of Health in
Glasgow looking at cases of pulmonary fibrosis in asbestos workers. Merewether conclusively proved a link between asbestos and the disease. In 1940 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were
Sir Thomas Oliver,
Stuart McDonald,
Edwin Bramwell and
David Murray Lyon. In 1943 he succeeded Dr J. C. Bridge as His Majesty's Senior Inspector of Factories in Great Britain. In June 1944, he was appointed an
Honorary Physician to the King (KHP); he completed his term of office in June 1947. In the
1948 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He retired in 1957 and died on 13 February 1970. ==Family==