[3] On 13 January 1833, William IV appointed Merewether one of the deputy clerks of the closet, and asked Lord Melbourne to have a care for his advancement.

[2]Robert Peel as Prime Minister disregarded, when reminded of it, William IV's dying wish that Merewether should become a bishop.

After a fruitless memorial to the queen, he announced to Lord John Russell as Prime Minister, in a long letter (22 December), his intention of voting against Hampden's election in the chapter meeting; and received in reply the laconic note: "Sir, I had the honour to receive your letter of the 22nd inst.

Merewether finally refused to affix the seal of the dean and chapter to the document recording the bishop's formal election.

[2] Merewether was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1836, and communicated to Archæologia accounts of discoveries made during the restoration of Hereford Cathedral.

[2] He was an active member of the Archæological Institution, and did work in Wiltshire, recorded by the posthumous publication in 1851 Diary of a Dean: being an Account of the Examination of Silbury Hill and of various Barrows and other Earthworks on the Downs of North Wilts.

The five lancet windows at the east end of the minster were fitted with stained glass to his memory with the inscription In Memoriam Johannis Merewether, S.T.P.