# Mercer, New Zealand

Mercer is a village in the Waikato District Council area of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is 70 km north of Hamilton and 58 km south of Auckland, on the east bank of the Waikato River, 2 km south of its confluence with the Mangatāwhiri River.
Prior to the creation of the Auckland supercity in 2010, Mercer was in Franklin District, part of the Auckland Region.

## History

The village of Mercer is named after Captain Henry Mercer, who was killed at Rangiriri in November 1863. The navy river gun-boat Pioneer was wrecked on the Manukau bar in 1866 and one of the gun turrets forms part of the war memorial.
Mercer became a town district in 1914 after the Mercer Road District amalgamated with Franklin County.
The North Island Main Trunk railway opened to Mercer station on 20 May 1875. A crash in 1940 killed the driver and fireman. Until 1958 many trains stopped for refreshments. The station closed in 1986.
The beached hulls of steamers operated until 1976 by Caesar Roose can be seen on the west bank of the river just south of Mercer. W. Stevenson & Sons Ltd bought the remains of the Roose sand dredging business in the mid 1980s and, after dredging ended in 1997, redeveloped 2.5 ha (6.2 acres) of its yard with a petrol station and a food court.

### Bridge

In 1965 Roose offered $100,000 towards the $343,000 bridge to replace the Mercer ferry. The 480 ft (150 m) long single span concrete Caesar Roose Bridge was opened on 18 November 1972 by Roose's daughter, Jeanette Thomas, with the Minister of Works, Percy Allen.

## Demographics

Mercer is in an SA1 statistical area which covers 4.08 km$^2$ (1.58 sq mi). The SA1 area is part of the larger Pōkeno Rural statistical area.
Mercer had a population of 132 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 9 people (7.3%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 18 people (15.8%) since the 2013 census. There were 72 males and 60 females in 51 dwellings. The median age was 40.9 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 30 people (22.7%) aged under 15 years, 12 (9.1%) aged 15 to 29, 75 (56.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 18 (13.6%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 59.1% European (Pākehā), 36.4% Māori, 9.1% Pasifika, and 4.5% Asian. English was spoken by 97.7%, Māori language by 4.5%, and other languages by 13.6%. No language could be spoken by 2.3% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 18.2, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 36.4% Christian, 2.3% Māori religious beliefs, and 2.3% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 54.5%, and 2.3% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 6 (5.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 54 (52.9%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 45 (44.1%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $43,400, compared with $41,500 nationally. 15 people (14.7%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 51 (50.0%) people were employed full-time and 12 (11.8%) were part-time.

## Education

Te Paina School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of 86 as of November 2024. The school was founded in 1876 as Mercer School, and changed its name to Te Paina in 2021.

## Climate

Climate data for Mercer (1951–1980) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23.8 (74.8) | 24.4 (75.9) | 22.8 (73.0) | 19.9 (67.8) | 17.0 (62.6) | 14.6 (58.3) | 13.8 (56.8) | 14.8 (58.6) | 16.2 (61.2) | 17.9 (64.2) | 19.7 (67.5) | 21.8 (71.2) | 18.9 (66.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 18.5 (65.3) | 18.8 (65.8) | 17.2 (63.0) | 15.0 (59.0) | 12.0 (53.6) | 10.0 (50.0) | 9.2 (48.6) | 10.4 (50.7) | 11.7 (53.1) | 13.6 (56.5) | 14.9 (58.8) | 16.8 (62.2) | 14.0 (57.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 13.1 (55.6) | 13.2 (55.8) | 11.5 (52.7) | 10.0 (50.0) | 7.0 (44.6) | 5.3 (41.5) | 4.6 (40.3) | 6.0 (42.8) | 7.2 (45.0) | 9.1 (48.4) | 10.1 (50.2) | 11.8 (53.2) | 9.1 (48.3) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 51 (2.0) | 75 (3.0) | 77 (3.0) | 98 (3.9) | 97 (3.8) | 123 (4.8) | 144 (5.7) | 116 (4.6) | 77 (3.0) | 87 (3.4) | 81 (3.2) | 63 (2.5) | 1,089 (42.9) |
| Source: NIWA ||||||||||||||

## Former residents

* Allan Marshall (1851–1915), river captain
* Te Puea Hērangi (1883–1952), Māori leader
* Caesar Roose (1886–1967), ship owner and operator