Elizabeth (nee Long) Mercer
- Born
- 1 Jan 1860
- Died
- 18 Nov 1925
- Gender
- Female
- Place of migration
- Migrated to /Born in Canada
Elizabeth Long married Benjamin (Benn) Mercer on 20 Sep 1881, a widowed farmer in Aughlish. Her name on the marriage certificate is “Eliza”, so one assumes that is the name that she went by. Eliza was from Killenau; her father, Andrew Long was a farmer. One of the witnesses to the marriage was James Long, who may have been a brother or other relation.
Their first son, Samuel was born in 1882, and the family emigrated to Canada the following year from Londonderry on the S.S. Peruvian, while Elizabeth was pregnant with their second child. They arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on 15 Apr 1883, and then initially settled in Manitoba. They had four more children between 1883-1887, who were born near Brandon, Manitoba: Matilda (Tilly), Robert, Elizabeth & Benjamin (Hans).
The 1891 Census of Canada shows them as living in the Vancouver, British Columbia area, so they moved west to BC between 1887 & 1891. Benn was working as a farm labourer. They eventually settled in Matsqui, British Columbia where Benn purchased & farmed land on a road that now bears his name (Mercer Road), and Benn & Elizabeth are buried in the Mercer Mausoleum (family vault) in Hazelwood Cemetery (Abbotsford, BC).
British Columbia (Canada) archives have Eliza’s age at her death as 72, which places her birth in 1853. The birthdate on her grave marker is 1860.
