John Edward Mercer, DD (13 February 1857 – 28 April 1922) was the

Anglican Bishop of Tasmania The Bishop of Tasmania is the diocesan bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (cont ...

from 1902 until 1914.

Biography

Mercer was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, the son of a clergyman, and educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

and

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, t ...

. Ordained by the

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durha ...

in 1880, his first post was as a curate at

Tanfield, Durham Tanfield is a former mining village in County Durham, England, near Stanley, and the location of Tanfield Railway, the Causey Arch and Tanfield School. History The village was first recorded in 1179 as Tamefeld, believed to be Old English ...

, followed by a year at

Penshaw The village of Penshaw , formerly known as ''Painshaw'' or ''Pensher'', is an area of the metropolitan district of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically, Penshaw was located in County Durham. Name and etymology Th ...

. He was then Chaplain/Missioner at his old school before two Manchester incumbencies at Angel Meadow and

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century ...

. Nearly all his work during his early years was in poor, working-class parishes, and he took a great interest in social work, including work to improve living conditions in Manchester. He was appointed

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in May 1902, and consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

on 13 July 1902. He had received the honorary degree

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

(DD) from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

the previous month. An eminent Christian scholar, on his return from the colonial episcopate he continued to serve the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

as a

Canon Residentiary A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to ...

and finally, from 1919 until his death, as

Archdeacon of Macclesfield The Archdeacon of Macclesfield is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Chester. As such she or he is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its six rural deaneries: Bowdon, Congleton, Knutsford, Macclesf ...

. During the First World War, he deputised for

Francis Jayne Francis John Jayne (1 January 1845 – 23 August 1921) was a British bishop and academic. Born in Pant-y-beiliau, Gilwern, Llanelli, Jayne was the eldest son of John Jayne, a colliery owner and his second wife, Elisabeth Haines. He was edu ...

, bishop of Chester, whose health was fragile, on a number of occasions. He had married firstly Josephine Archdall, who died in Tasmania. He later remarried Harriet Ethel Bennion on his return to England.

References

External links

* * Archdeacons of Macclesfield Anglican bishops of Tasmania 20th-century Anglican bishops in Australia 1857 births 1922 deaths Clergy from Bradford People educated at Rossall School Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford {{Australia-anglican-bishop-stub