(1834 - 1901)
Charles Mercier was baptised in Clapham in 1834. During his career he worked in London, Manchester, Pendleton and Liverpool. His sitters included Disraeli and Lord Napier. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, the Liverpool Academy of Arts, the Royal Manchester Institution and the ‘London International Exhibition’ of 1873. Known as Captain Charles Mercier for much of his artistic career, Mercier presumably also had a military career. He may be the same Charles Mercier who was promoted from Captain to Major in 1879 and who was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1885. The efforts of prisoner visitor Thomas Wright inspired him to paint a portrait of Wright in 1869 entitled ‘The Condemned Cell’.
