William Mercer

MERCER, William. b. Barnard Castle, County Durham, 1811; d. Sheffield, 21 August 1873. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1835, MA 1840). He was appointed Perpetual Curate of St George’s, Sheffield, in 1840, and remained there until his death. He is chiefly known as the editor of The Church Psalter and Hymn Book (1854), one of the principal Church of England hymnbooks before A&M. It was enlarged from 400 hymns to 510 in 1856 (although the 1856 preface says that the book contains 106 additional hymns, which suggests that another 4 had been added at some point). It was very successful and was frequently reprinted, with a new edition in 1864 and an Appendix in 1872. Its...

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