See also:

• MERCER (through Fr. mercier, from popular Lat. mercerius, a dealer, merx, merces, merchandise)

MERCER (through Fr. See also:

• MERCIER, HONORE (184o—,894)
• MERCIER, LOUIS SEBASTIEN (1740-1814)

mercier, from popular See also:

• LAT

Lat. mercerius, a dealer, merx, merces, merchandise)  , a dealer in the more costly textiles, especially in silks and velvets . The word formerly had a wider meaning . Mercery, according to W . See also:

• HERBERT (FAMILY)
• HERBERT, GEORGE (1593-1633)
• HERBERT, HENRY WILLIAM
• HERBERT, SIR THOMAS (1606-1682)

Herbert (See also:

• HISTORY

History of the Twelve See also:

• GREAT

Great See also:

• LIVERY

Livery Companies, 1834), " comprehended all things sold by See also:

• RETAIL

retail by the ` little See also:

• BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. bilantia, an apparatus for weighing, from bi, two, and lanx, a dish or scale)

balance ' or small scales (in contradistinction to the things sold by the ` See also:

• BEAM
• BEAM (from the O. Eng. beam, cf. Ger. Baum, a tree, to which sense may be referred the use of " beam " as meaning the rood or crucifix, and the survival in certain names of trees, as horn-beam)

beam ' or in See also:

• GROSS

gross), and included not only toys, together with haberdashery and various other articles connected with See also:

• DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress, but also spices and drugs." Many of the articles in which they dealt See also:

• FELL
• FELL, JOHN (1625-1686)

fell later within the See also:

• SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere of other trades; thus the See also:

• TRADE (O. Eng. trod, footstep, from tredan, to tread; in M. Eng. the forms teed, trod and trade appear, the last in the sense of a beaten track)
• TRADE, BOARD OF

trade in the smaller articles of dress was taken over by the haberdashers (q.v.) . The trade in See also:

• SILK

silk seems to have been originally in the hands of the " silkmen and throwsteres." The Mercers' See also:

• COMPANY

Company is the first in See also:

• PRECEDENCE (from Lat. praecedere, to go before, precede)

precedence of the twelve great livery companies of the See also:

• CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of See also:

• LONDON

London, and is also the wealthiest both in See also:

• TRUST

trust and corporate See also:

• PROPERTY

property . The first See also:

• CHARTER (Lat. charta, carta, from Gr. Xap-rns, originally for papyrus, material for writing, thence transferred to paper and from this material to the document, in O. Eng. boc, book)

charter was obtained in 1393, but the mercers appear to have been formed into a gild much earlier . Herbert finds the mercers as patrons of a charity a few years after 1172, and one See also:

• ROBERT
• ROBERT (1275—1343)
• ROBERT, HUBERT (1753-1808)
• ROBERT, LOUIS LEOPOLD (1794-1835)

Robert Searle, who was See also:

• MAYOR (Lat. major, greater)
• MAYOR, JOHN EYTON BICKERSTETH (1825– )

mayor in 1214, was a " See also:

• MERCER (through Fr. mercier, from popular Lat. mercerius, a dealer, merx, merces, merchandise)

mercer." A further charter was granted in 1424, with the right to use a See also:

• COMMON

common See also:

• SEAL
• SEAL, FUR
• SEAL, HAIR

seal . The history of the company is closely connected with the name of See also:

• RICHARD
• RICHARD (d. 1184)
• RICHARD, FRANCOIS MARIE BENJAMIN (18,9-1908)
• RICHARD, HENRY (1812-1888)
• RICHARD, ST

Richard See also:

• WHITTINGTON
• WHITTINGTON, RICHARD (d. 1423)

Whittington (q.v.), and later with that of See also:

• DEAN (Lat. decanus, derived from the Gr. 8eaa, ten)
• DEAN, FOREST OF

Dean See also:

• COLET, JOHN (1467?-1519)
• COLET, LOUISE (1810–1876)

Colet, who See also:

• CHOSE (Fr. for " thing ")

chose the company as the manager of St See also:

• PAUL
• PAUL (PAULUS)

Paul's School .