MERCER, John of Aldie, MP, Provost of Perth ^{1 2 3}

   User ID: N995.

  General Notes:

"The Mercers (Dhu) of Aldie, or, as commonly pronounced, Awdie, have been connected with Perth from time immemorial. An inscription is said to be in their vault in the church of St. John in that city, which asserts that John Mercer died in 1280. This vault, according to tradition, was a royal grant to the family, in consideration of their having given one of the kings of Scotland the Mills of Perth [....]

Bernard Mercer, the son of John, who died in 1280, was a burgess of Perth, and signed the Ragman Roll in 1296.

The first founder of this baronial family was John Mercer, a wealthy merchant burgess of Perth, about 1340, at that time the metropolis of Scotland, which it ceased to be in 1482. He several times represented Perth in parliament, and was provost of that city in 1357, 1369, and 1374. He is mentioned in 1357 as procurator for Perth, to treat of the ransom for King David. He was frequently sent as ambassador to England, France, and Holland, and was held in high estimation by Charles V., (surnamed the Wise) King of France. He was a man of immense wealth, as may be supposed from the fact of his son having been able to raise a fleet of his own, in the year 1377, to avenge the captivity of his father."

from Electric Scotland




"John was born in 1300 and is known to have been a Burgess of Perth by 1328.

He received charters for the ward and relief of the lands of his nephew, William de Moravia, Lord of Tullybardine in 1352.

He also received charters over the following 20 years or so for Kyncarrouchy, Meikleour, Aldie, Lednoch, Meikle Kinnaird, Pettlands of Strathord and Tullibeagles.

On 26/Sep/1356-7 he was one of the Commissioners appointed to negotiate the ransom of King David II who had been captured by the English in battle near Durham ten years earlier and held to ransom in the Tower of London.

He was Member of Parliament for Perth in 1364 and a frequent Ambassador from Scotland to France, Flanders and England.

He is known to have been Provost of Perth in 1356 and 1374.

Through time, John rose to become an eminent statesman, and was one of the wealthiest Scottish foreign traders of his time. However, on a return trip from Flanders in 1376, he was shipwrecked off the English coast and taken prisoner to Scarborough from where he was soon released. (For a more detailed account of this episode, see Sir Andrew Mercer.)

He went to England again as Nuncio in 1378-9 and died in 1379-80."

from Mercer Millions ^{2 3}

John married Ada MURRAY, daughter of Andrew MURRAY 2nd of Tullibardine and Unknown, about 1326.^{1 2} (Ada MURRAY was born about 1305.)

  Marriage Notes:

"B. Ada Murray m. John Mercer of Aldie, Provost of Perth (b c1300, d 1379/1380)"

from stirnet.com




"The date of John Mercer and Ada Murray's marriage is a matter of some debate. The Mercer Family Tree by William Lindsay Mercer provides us with the date 1326 as does a chart from George Mercer. However, Kai Drewes supplied the following interesting extract from a book by Ranald Nicholson, viz: "An even more notable burgess, John Mercer of Perth, had already risen in the world by 1352 when he married into the baronial family of Murray of Tullibardine. A long spectacular career as merchant prince lay ahead of him."

We do not know how William Lindsay Mercer supposed the marriage date of John and Ada to be 1326. He seldom gives his sources. This date would be surprising if it was their son who was the same John Mercer granted safe conduct to Oxford 'causa studend' as he would have been about 52 years old by that time.

On the other hand, if the date of the marriage was 1352 then the age we have for their son Andrew Mercer could not be correct. We do not know Ranald Nicholson's source for 1352 which, it is worth noting, was when John Mercer acquired the lands of Tullibardine - which had previously belonged to his wife's family.

We therefore tend to favour 1326 as being the more likely date."

from Mercer Millions ^{1 2}