MERCER MILLIONS MYSTERY

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 10 March 1934, Page 11

MERCER MILLIONS MYSTERY

Many Claims to Canadian Fortune

T HE mystery of the Mercer millions may be solved within, the next few weeks, said the Edinburgh correspondent of the “Sunday Chronicle” on January G. Following publicity, new' claims had come from all parts of the world, and it seemed! likely that the case would be opened in the Canadian Courts. Andrew Mercer, a. Scotsman, who emigrated to Canada at the beginning of the 19th century, and became one of the wealthiest men in Toronto, left a fortune in 1871, for which, no heirs have been found. This now 7 amounts to more than £2,000,000. Valuable information regarding the fortune was received by Mr John Robertson, the lawyer, recently. Following a consultation with > officials in the Canadian office at Glasgow cables were sent to Toronto. They asked for an immediate examination of the Canadian census papers taken in 1861, in which Mercer’s name and nationality should have been lodged.

The origin of Andrew Mercer’s birth and his early life is still wrapped in mystery. It is believed that he sailed for Canada in company with a Thomas Scott, who latex became Attorney-Gen-eral and Chief Justice of the province of Upper Canada. The ship in which they sailed was attacked by pirates, and in consequence valuable papers were lost.

Mercer eventually reached Yorknow Toronto —where he became one of the wealthiest men in the city. A son named Andrew F. Mercer, who died in 1925, put forward a claim to his father’s estate, but this was repelled on the grounds of his illegitimacy. Mr Mercer’s father, who was found dead in his chair in liis office on June 13, 1871, left a piece of paper which read: “In case I should die before ray son should return or before I have time to make my will, I wish James —(the surname is undecipherable)—and Chas. Unwin to have my estate divided among my wife andl son. Andw. Mercer.” The Courts held that this was not a will. Recently a woman paid a visit, to. Peterboro, Canada, and examined the tombstone of a relative named Andrew Mercer, believed to be a cousin of the millionaire. She took a photograph of the tombstone. The photograph was forwarded to the Edinburgh lawyers, and it has opened up new avenues of investigation. If examination, of the census papers in Toronto proves the dead millionaire to be a Scotsman, the Canadian, authorities will be asked to explain the deletion from his tombstone of his birth. “I think,” said 1 a representative of the lawyers, “that we ore nearer now to the substantiation of a claim than we have been during the twenty years of constant investigation.”