AustLit

John Mercer resided in Australia as the Anglican Bishop of Tasmania between 1902 and 1914. A lifelong vigorous social reformer to the extent of being known as the 'Socialist Bishop', he combined his bushwalking activities with ministering to isolated communities. He was known as an accomplished speaker; many of his sermons, lectures and public speeches, although considered controversial for the time, were printed in the Tasmanian newspapers the Mercury, the Daily Telegraph and the Examiner. Because of his activities in the area of labour reform he has been equated with Billy Hughes as having played an important role in the development of Australia at the dawn of the twentienth century. His books and pamphlets addressed his belief in the role religion should play in social issues such as: the Labor movement; the development of education; moral reform; and new scientific discoveries such as evolutionary theory. The most notable of these are Social Equality (1905) and the 1907 Moorehouse lecture The Soul of Progress. A later work Nature Mysticism (1913) has been included in Project Gutenberg. Mercer was also a painter.