William Thomas Mercer

William Thomas Mercer (Chinese: 孖沙; Sidney Lau: Ma1 Sa1) (17 October 1821 – 23 May 1879) was a British colonial administrator who served in Hong Kong from 1844 to 1866.

[1] His parents emigrated to Tasmania and purchased land there in 1835, leaving the young Mercer behind in England.

He became a student at the Inner Temple in 1842 and went on to earn BA and MA degrees from the University of Oxford in 1843 and 1851, respectively.

He was succeeded by Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, who became the 6th Governor of Hong Kong.

Mercer married Mary Phillips Nind, born in Hargrave, Berkshire, in September 1862.