As reported briefly in last month's Pastoral Review, the death occurred recently of a pioneer landholder in the Kerang and Boort districts of Victoria, Mr. Alexander Mercer, J.P., who owned Lochlyn, Boort, and properties at Barraport and Mysia. The late Mr. Mercer, who was born at Tolleen, near Heathcote, Vic., in 1871, was a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Nicol Mercer. In 1890 he moved to the Mallee with his brother Michael, and took up land in the Lalbert district. During the disastrous drought of 1902 he drove his sheep by road from the Mallee to Wilson's Promontory, which was regarded as no mean feat in those days. In 1905 he married Miss Flora McDonald, of a well-known family from Bael Bael, and for the next 17 years continued to work his property near Lalbert and raise fat lambs at a time when buyers competed for and bought lambs in the paddock for export markets. In 1914 Mr. Mercer acquired another property at Teal Point, near Kerang, and in 1917 purchased Lochlyn, Boort, to which he moved with his family in 1922. Subsequently he purchased land at Barraport and Mysia.
In his younger days Mr. Mercer was a keen exhibitor and judge of draught horses at various country shows in Victoria. He took an active interest in local municipal affairs all his life, and was a member of the Kerang Shire Council for 18 years, serving two terms as Shire President. Mr. Mercer was a member of the Graziers' Association of Victoria, and one of the original members of the Kerang branch of the Country Party. Failing eyesight forced his retirement from many local public bodies with which he was associated, such as the Boort Bush Nursing Hospital, of which he was a foundation member, and the Boort Agricultural Society. In 1939, with Mrs. Mercer, he visited California and Vancouver as the member of an Australian agricultural delegation.
He is survived by his widow and a family of three sons, Messrs. Alan Mercer, of Elwood; Colin, of Kerang; and Jack, of Boort, and three daughters. Another son, Donald, predeceased him.
'Mercer, Alexander (1871–1954)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/mercer-alexander-721/text722, accessed 28 March 2025.