[1] Merton was a grant to Commander William Ogilvie who had served as a Midshipsman under Lord Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen and who retired from the Royal Navy to the Colony of New South Wales.

He was allotted 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) near the present town of Denman, and named it Merton after the house of Lord Nelson in Surrey.

[1] This homestead became the centre of the first village in the Upper Hunter Valley, possessing courthouse, church, school, cemetery, etc.

Of the many buildings to survive are Merton Cottage c. 1825 (disused) and White's late nineteenth homestead - a complex of the highest significance.

Socially the homestead site has regional significance for the descendants of the Ogilvie, Reginald White and Porter families.

The complex occupies a prominent site overlooking the town of Denman, in a remarkable setting (National Trust classification).