[1] Merton's family had founded Metallgesellschaft in Germany and Henry R. Merton and Co. in Britain, which were among the leading metal trading companies of their respective countries.
[2] Merton was a director and one of the largest shareholders of the British company.
[3] Merton's wife, Antonie, had come to England from Germany with her previous husband, Hermann Schmiechen, a portrait painter.
[5] Merton and Antonie lived at Folly Farm, Sulhamstead.
[4] Merton died in 1915 but left £350,000 in his will to establish a series of convalescent homes.