Dr Edward Rowland Alworth Merewether
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
CB CBE (1892-1970) was a British barrister and physician (combining two fields in a unique manner). He was an expert in industrial medicine and the laws linked to this, working especially with
asbestosis. In 1944 he was appointed Honorary Physician to King
George VI. Close colleagues called him "Uncle M". In authorship he is known as E. R. A. Merewether.
Life
He was born in
Durham on 2 March 1892 the son of Alworth Edward Merewether, a naval surgeon.
He studied medicine at
Durham University
, mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1)
, established = (university status)
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 1,830 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19)
, chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen
, vice_chan ...
graduating MB BS in 1914. In the
First World War he served in the
Royal Navy. He received the
Order of St Sava for his work in
Serbia. After the war he started specialising in chest diseases.
In 1927 he joined the staff of the Factory Department of the Home Office. Here he was one of the first to identify the dangers of breathing
asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
fibre and also identified
silicosis
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silicos ...
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
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
. His proposers were
Sir Thomas Oliver
Sir Thomas Oliver, (1853–1942) was a Scottish physician and expert on industrial hygiene, particularly in the mining industry and antimony workers. He was President of the College of Medicine 1926 to 1934 and President of the Royal Institute o ...
,
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.
He retired in 1957 and died on 13 February 1970.
Family
His great-grandfather was
John Merewether
John Merewether (1797 – 4 April 1850) was an English churchman, Dean of Hereford from 1832, known also as an antiquary.
Early life
The son of John Merewether of Blackland, Wiltshire, he was born at Marshfield, Gloucestershire, in 1797. He matr ...
.
In 1918 he married Ruth Annie Hayton Waddell. They had three daughters.
Publications
*''Report on the Effects of Asbestos Dust on Lungs'' (1930)
*''Industrial Medicine and Hygiene''
References
1892 births
1970 deaths
People from Durham, England
20th-century British medical doctors
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Asbestos
Alumni of Durham University College of Medicine
Military personnel from Durham, England
{{UK-med-bio-stub
Royal Navy personnel of World War I
Royal Navy sailors