How My Great-Grandfather Got Knighted by the Queen for Wool
The story behind the Sir W. in Sir W. Merino — a 21st birthday gift, fifty years of work, a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, and a stud that's still running today.
By Jock Merriman, Founder of Sir W. Merino
In 1954, my great-grandfather knelt in front of Queen Elizabeth II and was knighted for his contribution to wool.
That's an unusual sentence to write in 2026, but it's literally what happened. The Queen tapped him on each shoulder with a sword. He stood up Sir Walter Merriman. The brand I run today is named after him.
This is the story of how that happened — and why a stud he founded in regional New South Wales in 1903 is the reason I started Sir W. Merino out of Austin, Texas.
1880: Where the Family Started
The Merriman family didn't start with Sir Walter. He's just the most famous chapter.
My great-great-great-grandfather, George Merriman, began growing wool in 1880 at a property called Ravensworth, near Murrumbateman in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. The Southern Tablelands sit at higher elevation — cool winters, warm summers, native grass — which makes them one of the historically most important fine wool regions in Australia.
George was a working sheep farmer. He wasn't famous. He didn't get knighted. He just spent his life building a wool business at Ravensworth and raising his son to do the same.
That son was Walter.
1903: The 21st Birthday Gift
On Walter's 21st birthday in 1903, George gave him his first Merino flock as a gift.
In 1903 Australia, that was a serious gift. A flock of sheep represented years of breeding work, capital, and a chance to start your own operation. Most young men got pocket watches. Walter got an entire business.
He took the flock and started his own stud on a property just down the road from Ravensworth. He called it Merryville.
I've thought a lot about that moment over the years. Walter was 21 — barely older than the kids working in my Austin office today. He could have done anything with that flock. Sell it, leverage it, expand into a different agricultural business. Instead he committed to fine wool for the next half-century.
1903–1954: Fifty Years of Work
The Sir Walter chapter of the story isn't a single event. It's fifty years of selective breeding, careful husbandry, and incremental improvement.
Walter spent decades refining the Merryville bloodline. He bred for fibre fineness, fleece consistency, fleece weight, and constitution. The right ram in the right year could improve the entire flock for generations — and the wrong choice could set the operation back a decade.
Wool in 1900s Australia was the country's biggest export. The whole country, in a real sense, rode on the back of the sheep. People who shaped Australian wool shaped Australian economic history. Walter was one of those people.
By the 1940s, Merryville was producing some of the most respected fine Merino wool in Australia. Stud rams went to other breeders across the country. The bloodline contributed to flocks far beyond Merryville's own paddocks. Walter wasn't running a marketing campaign — he was just being one of the most rigorous fine wool breeders in a country full of serious wool breeders.
That kind of work doesn't have a single moment that makes you famous. It's the cumulative effect of decades.
1954: The Knighthood
In June 1954, Queen Elizabeth II — newly crowned, on her first major royal tour — visited Australia for the first time. As part of the honours associated with that visit, Walter Merriman was knighted for his contribution to the Australian Merino industry.
He became Sir Walter Merriman.
A knighthood in 1954 Australia was a real big deal. It put him in the same category as Sir Donald Bradman (cricket), Sir Robert Menzies (Prime Minister), and a small handful of industry-defining figures.
He didn't take it as a retirement signal. Walter kept working Merryville for years afterwards. The stud kept producing. The bloodline kept improving. The knighthood was a recognition of work he'd already done, not a finish line.
He died in 1972 at the age of 90, having spent 69 years building one wool operation. Merryville continued under the family.
1970s: Merryville Moves to Boorowa
After Walter's death, the operation continued under the next generation — my grandfather. Through the 1960s and 70s, the family moved Merryville's operations between properties. By the 1970s, Merryville was permanently based at a property in Boorowa, NSW, about an hour and a half north of where it started.
Boorowa is where I grew up. The Merryville Stud still operates there today, run by my family. The fences my father built, the yards I worked in as a kid — that's where I learned everything I know about merino wool.
The land has moved. The family hasn't. The bloodline hasn't. The fibre is the same one Walter spent fifty years refining, with another seventy years of refinement on top of that.
That's 145 years of one family's work in one fibre. Read more about the lineage →
2019: Why I Built Sir W. Merino
I moved to Austin in 2019. I'd been around merino my whole life, but it took moving to the United States to realise how few American men had ever owned a merino shirt.
I'd walk into a meeting and notice everyone wearing cotton. I'd go to the gym and see polyester. I'd ask people about merino and most of them thought it was just hiking gear or expensive sweaters.
Meanwhile, the Australian Merino industry — the one my family has been part of for five generations — produces some of the finest wool in the world. The fibre is incredible. The story behind it is incredible. Most Americans had heard neither.
So I started Sir W. Merino. Named it after my great-grandfather. Built it around three shirts:
- The Bruce — the merino wool button-up.
- The George — the all-day polo, named for my father.
- The Cassius — the athletic tee.
The brand is the apparel arm of a wool family that's been doing one thing for a long time. Walter spent fifty years getting the wool right. I spent two years getting the shirts right. Different work, same family.
How The Shirts Get Made
Quick word on how Sir W. Merino actually comes together, because I believe in being transparent about it:
The wool. Premium Australian Merino — the same fibre tradition my family has been part of since 1880, and the same industry Sir Walter spent his life shaping.
The design. Done in Austin, Texas, where I'm based.
The manufacturing. Our shirts are made in Shanghai by Diyang — a factory that specializes in fine merino apparel for premium brands. They're the standard for high-end merino construction. We work with them because the quality is genuinely the best available for this fibre at this price point.
I tell you this because the brands I respect are honest about how they make their products. The brands I don't respect hide it behind vague language. Sir W. Merino is the former.
What This Means For You
If you're buying a Sir W. Merino shirt, here's what you're buying:
A garment made from premium Australian Merino — the fibre my family has been growing for 145 years — designed in Austin, and constructed by specialists in fine merino apparel.
You're not buying "heritage" as a marketing word. You're buying actual heritage — verifiable, documented, still operating, still producing the same fibre — combined with modern construction that does the fibre justice.
That's rare. It's the reason I started the brand. It's the reason I keep going.
Start with The Starter Set → (all three shirts at $35 off)
Or explore the full collection →
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Sir Walter Merriman?
Sir Walter Merriman (1882-1972) was an Australian wool grower who founded Merryville Stud in 1903 after receiving his first Merino flock as a 21st birthday gift. Over fifty years he built Merryville into one of Australia's most respected fine wool studs. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 for his contribution to the Australian Merino industry.
What is Merryville Stud?
Merryville Stud is the Merino wool operation founded by Sir Walter Merriman in 1903 near Murrumbateman in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. Since the 1970s it has been located in Boorowa, NSW, where it is still operated by the Merriman family today.
Is the Merriman family still in wool?
Yes. Five generations into wool, the Merriman family still operates Merryville Stud in Boorowa, NSW. The current generation runs the day-to-day operations on the property; Jock Merriman runs Sir W. Merino, the apparel brand he founded.
How long has the Merriman family been growing Merino wool?
Since 1880. George Merriman the elder began growing wool at Ravensworth, near Murrumbateman, NSW. His son Walter founded Merryville Stud in 1903. The family has been continuously in wool for over 145 years.
Why is the brand called "Sir W. Merino"?
Sir W. is shorthand for Sir Walter Merriman, the founder of Merryville Stud and the great-grandfather of Jock Merriman, who founded the brand. The name honours Walter's contribution to the Australian Merino industry and the family's continuing operation of his stud.
Where is Sir W. Merino made?
Our shirts are designed in Austin, Texas, and manufactured in Shanghai by Diyang — a factory that specializes in fine merino apparel for premium brands. The wool is premium Australian Merino — the same fibre tradition the Merriman family has been part of since 1880. (Learn more about how merino is grown →)
Jock Merriman is the founder of Sir W. Merino and a fifth-generation Australian wool farmer. His family has been growing Merino wool since 1880, and currently operates Merryville Stud — founded by Sir Walter Merriman in 1903 — in Boorowa, NSW. Jock lives in Austin, Texas, where Sir W. Merino is based. Read the full family story →
