Mercer Chronicle

THE MERCER CHRONICLE.
INTRODUCTION.
The old Scottish name of Mercer is, in French, Le Mer-
cier. In Latin it is Mercator, and in that form it became
distinguished in the Low Countries, being borne by the
celebrated mathematician and geographer, Gerard Mercator,
inventor of the famous method of projection which is known
by his name. Born in the Netherlands in 1512, he died in
1594.
The name of Mercer ' is a very ancient one in Scotland
and England, and in Ireland there was a William Mercer,
Bishop of Connor, in 1353-75. The name appears to have
been originally assumed by individuals engaged extensively
with ships of their own in the merchant trade with the
Continent. In 1214, Serle Mercer, a wealthy merchant, was
for eight weeks Mayor of London. He was again elected in
1217, and, outdoing Whittington, retained his office from 1218
to 1222. He was one of the worthy citizens who completed,
in 1209, the building of the first stone bridge across the
Thames — the famous London Bridge.
Two families of the name have been settled in Scotland
from a very early period — the Mercers of Innerpeff'ry, in
Strathern, and those of Aldie, in Perthshire. The latter were
closely connected with the city of Perth, and an inscription in
the family vault of the Mercers', in the church of St. John
there, records that one of them, John Mercer, died in 1280.
' The name was Le Mercier ; but in memoranda of charters, I have
seen Le Mercer, Mercer, and even Marser, though no doubt of the
identity of the family could then exist. — I. S.'