{{Short description|Australian sheep breeder}} {{Infobox person |name = Sir Walter Merriman |image = Sir Walter Merriman (1882-1972), Australian sheep breeder, 1954.png |caption = Portrait of Sir Walter Merriman |birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1882|01|18}} |birth_place = Yass, New South Wales |death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1972|01|25|1882|01|18}} |death_place = Yass, New South Wales |other_names = |known_for = |occupation = Sheep breeder }}
'''Sir Walter Merriman''' (1882–1972) was an Australian sheep breeder who bred a new type of Merino sheep which produced a high quality and high yield fine soft wool<ref name="adb">G. P. Walsh, [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/merriman-sir-walter-thomas-7561 Sir Walter Thomas Merriman (1882–1972)], ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref> which is regarded as "some of Australia's finest wool".<ref>[https://www.historicmerryvillehomestead.com/ MerryvilleHomestead], historicmerryvillehomestead.com. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.sirwmerino.com/blogs/news/sir-walter-merriman-the-visionary-behind-the-merino-wool-revolution Sir Walter Merriman: The Visionary Behind the Merino Wool Revolution], sirwmerino.com. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref><ref>David J. Wagner, [https://www.australiaforvisitors.com/murrumbateman-history.html History of Murrumbateman (NSW), 1824-1960], australiaforvisitors.com. Retrieved 29 October 2024.</ref> This Merino wool, known today as the "Merryville" type,<ref name="m-history">[http://www.merryvillestud.com.au/history.htm History], merryvillestud.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref> has contributed for more than half a century to Australia's export-earning wool industry.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-09/camden-sheep-living-link-australia-modern-merino/101214592 Camden sheep a living link to Australia's modern-day Merino], abc.net.au. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref>
==Early life and education== Merriman was born on 18 May 1882 in Yass, New South Wales. His parents were George Merriman, a sheep breeder, and Mary Ann, née Dowling. Beginning in 1865 his father developed a fine-wool merino stud named Ravensworth in the Yass district, based on bloodlines from Tasmania and from Mudgee, New South Wales. Walter attended the Public School in the village of Murrumbateman.<ref name="adb" />
==Career== In 1903 Walter Merriman established his own stud named Merryville located on part of his father's Ravensworth property. At the beginning his sheep were Merinos of the "Saxon" type.<ref name="m-history" /> He acquired ewes and a sire from his father's estate and in 1911 added sheep of the Peppin bloodline to his flock. In 1915 he acquired more ewes and rams from Ravensworth and in 1921 more from the Murgha stud dispersal sale in Deniliquin.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16887297 "Murgha Stud Dispersal"], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 5 February 1921, p. 11. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref><ref name="adb" />
He became known for breeding fine-woolled sheep. Undertaking "selective breeding practices",<ref>[https://www.sirwmerino.com/blogs/news/sir-walter-merriman-the-visionary-behind-the-merino-wool-revolution Sir Walter Merriman: The Visionary Behind the Merino Wool Revolution], sirwmerino.com. Retrieved 29 October 2024.</ref> he protected the quality of his clip by keeping his flock, now registered with the name of the Merryville-Murgha Stud, separate from the sheep on other properties.
In 1937 he formed a family company, Merryville Pty Ltd, and extended his holdings to included properties at Yass, Boorowa, Murrumbateman, Bowral and Narrandera.<ref name="adb" />
An expert wool classer, Merriman saw his merinos win top prizes at the Royal Agricultural Society's Sydney Sheep Show<ref>[https://archivescollection.anu.edu.au/index.php/walter-merriman-at-sydney-sheep-show Walter Merriman at the Sydney Sheep Show], archivescollection.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 29 October 2024.</ref> as well as in similar shows in Melbourne, Albury, Goulburn, Dubbo and Yass.<ref>[http://www.merryvillestud.com.au/breeding.htm Breeding], merryvillestud.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref> During his long career that lasted half a century he not only maintained the quality of his fine merino wool but increased "average yield of his flock to fourteen lb. (6 kg) a head and at the same time more than doubling the yield of his top breeds".<ref name="adb" />
==Community service== Over the years he served in local government as a member of the local Goodradigbee Shire Council, was president of the Yass Pastoral and Agricultural Association, and served in senior posts in the local bush fire brigade, Yass District Hospital, the Pastures Protection Board and the local District Soldiers' Memorial and Literary Institute.<ref name="adb" />
==Honours== * 1954: Knighted "for services to the wool industry"<ref>Stephen Burns, [https://www.stockandland.com.au/story/6778380/challenging-the-merino/ Challenging the merino], stockandland.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref><ref>"Knight Bachelor: Top Merino Breeder Sir Walter Merriman", in: ''Queensland Country Life'', 7 January 1954, p. 6.</ref>
==Personal life== Merriman diedin Yass on 25 January 1972. His grave is located in the Murrumbateman cemetery.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=G.P. |title=Sir Walter Thomas Merriman (1882–1972) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/merriman-sir-walter-thomas-7561 |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=May 15, 2026 |date=1986}}</ref>
Sir Walter Merriman's youngest son, Bruce Merriman, became the managing director of Merriville after his father's death, and Bruce's son, Walter ("Wally") Merriman, continued the family connection to the Australian merino wool industry, serving as the chairman of the non-profit, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI).<ref>[https://www.wool.com/news-events/news/australian-wool-innovation-chairman-walter-merriman-steps-down/ Australian Wool Innovation Chairman Walter Merriman steps down], wool.com. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref><ref>Bob Garnant, [https://www.countryman.com.au/countryman/wool/walter-merriman-to-vacate-australian-wool-innovation-chair-after-year-of-chaos-ng-b881019536z Walter Merriman to vacate Australian Wool Innovation chair after year of chaos], countryman.com.au, 20 November 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref><ref>Stephen Burns, [https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/8307351/fine-genetics-120-years-in-the-making/ Merriman family has long history in growing wool], farmonline.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2024.</ref>
== References == <!-- Inline citations added to your article will automatically display here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --> {{reflist}}
==Further reading== ===Books=== * New South Wales Sheepbreeders' Association, ''The Australian Merino'', Sydney, 1955 * G. Day and J. Jessup, ''The History of the Australian Merino'', William Heinemann, 1984 * Charles Massy, ''The Australian Merino'', Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 1988
===Articles=== * [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/234413179 "Merryman Merriman of Merryville"], ''Smith's Weekly'', (Smith's Personalities, No. 58), 13 July 1929, p. 12 * Betty Wilkinson, [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46944846/4780430 "Good Breeding Makes Australia's Golden Fleece"], ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', 25 October 1947, pp. 20–21 * [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18512383 "Portrait of a Grazier"], ''The Sunday Herald'', 31 May 1953, p. 10 * [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97457267 "Knight Bachelor: Top Merino Breeder Sir Walter Merriman"], ''Queensland Country Life'', 7 January 1954, p. 6 * [https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/3630087/merriman-the-merino-trendsetter/ Merriman the Merino Trendsetter], 30 December 2015, farmonline.com.au
==External links== * [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-157597092/view Photograph of Mr Walter Merriman, ca. 1925] at Fairfax archive of glass plate negatives * [https://www.historicmerryvillehomestead.com/ Historic Merryville Homestead] - "homestead and home built in 1903 by Sir Walter Merriman"
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Merriman, Walter}} Category:1882 births Category:1972 deaths Category:Australian sheep breeders Category:Australian pastoralists Category:Wool industry in Australia Category:Australian Knights Bachelor Category:People from Yass