Harold St Aubyn (Bailey) Mercer (1882 - 1952)

Ancestors Descendants

Biography

Harold St Aubyn Mercer was born Harold Bailey on 22nd February 1882 in Kelvin Grove, Queensland (Australia). He was the son of Thomas Adams Bailey and Gertrude Frances Mercer. ^[1][2] His mother reverted to her maiden name of Mercer after divorcing in 1893, also changing Harold's name likewise. ^[3][4][5] Moving to the much larger metropolis of Sydney, New South Wales, Harold was soon intrigued by the literary world.

Harold came from a writing family; his grandmother having written for the Westminster Gazette, and his grandfather having published several religious works. His 'boy reciter' fame and interest is perpetuated in the test for the Bulletin Awards for Australian Verse Speaking (14 years and over) requiring a recitation of a work by early Bulletin contributors which includes Harold. ^[3]

As Harold St Aubyn, he was famed as the 'boy chess player', with his name being given to the Harold Mercer Cup for Junior Chess Champion of Australia, begun in 1949. ^[3]

His first published verse appeared in the Bulletin in 1897 at age fifteen, and his first short story was published in the Bulletin on 22nd September 1900. At seventeen, he won a half-share of the prize in a competition for an essay on the future of the Australian Commonwealth. He also wrote topical lyrics for pantomimes and advertising verses whilst working in a solicitor's office. Leaving shortly after for an acting career, he lasted only three months before being appointed assistant manager of the company. By 1902 he was managing a company which toured New Zealand for two years. ^[3]

Harold married Florence Brierley in 1905 in Sydney, New South Wales. ^[6] Changing vocation, he obtained work as a clerk and then as an accountant in Waterloo, in inner Sydney's inner southern suburbs. ^[3] After having a (based on their places of birth registration) son at Darlinghurst, in Sydney's inner eastern suburbs, and a daughter at St Leonards, on Sydney's North Shore, the couple settled in Glebe, in Sydney's inner western suburbs, whereupon a further three children 'joined' the family.

Harold was involved in the formation of the Clerk's Union, resulting in his being 'boycotted' by business and his returning to freelance writing, and in the organising of another twenty-eight new unions, including the Artists' and Writers' Union. He obtained a job at the Sydney Morning Herald on the basis of his knowledge of labour affairs. ^[3]

Aged 35 years, on 12th April 1917, Harold enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, his young nation's all-volunteer expeditionary force for the (First World) War. ^[7] He was posted to the 1st Infantry Battalion, ^[8] and with the 25th reinforcements embarked aboard the HMAT Marathon A74 from Sydney on 10th May. ^[9] In England, he was hospitalised at Sutton Veny in November that year. His diary begins on his discharge from hospital and covers the period of the German Spring Offensive of April to June 1918 and provides an intimate account of life at the front line during this critical period. He became seriously ill in June 1918 and was invalided to England. His diary ends with him in hospital in London. He attained the rank of Corporal. ^[10]

After his return to Sydney, he worked as a publicity officer, sub-editor on the monthly Aussie, Melbourne representative for the Bulletin, and published verse in All About Australians magazine. He wrote prolificly for the Bulletin, and his freelance works included verse, short stories, paragraphs on all subjects, special articles, jokes, sermons and prayers, advertisements and technical articles. ^[3] Arguably, his best known short story is the 1933 science fiction Amazon Island, presenting a Utopia set on an Island in the Pacific inhabited by a Lost Race where sex-roles have been reversed. ^[2]

Harold was killed in an automobile accident, aged about 70 years, on 13th June 1952 in Bondi, New South Wales. ^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ Queensland Birth Index #1882/C/5436
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Encyclopedia of Science Fiction; accessed 17 Dec 2022
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Australian Literature: Harold Mercer; accessed 17 Dec 2022
4. ↑ Australian Imperial Force Attestation Paper; accessed 27 JUn 2019
5. ↑ no record of birth has yet been located
6. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #8708/1905
7. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 7531 Corporal Harold St Aubyn Mercer; accessed 27 Jun 2019
8. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 1st Infantry Battalion; accessed 27 Jun 2019
9. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 7531 Private Harold St Aubyn Mercer; accessed 17 Dec 2022
10. ↑ Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Mercer papers, 9 December 1917-19 June 1919, MLMSS 1143; accessed 27 Jun 2019
11. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #8163/1952