Editing Dornford Yates (section)

==Early life==
William (Bill) Mercer was born in [[Walmer]], Kent, the son of Cecil John Mercer (1850–1921) and Helen Wall (1858–1918). His father was a solicitor whose sister, Mary Frances, married Charles Augustus Munro; their son was [[Saki|Hector Hugh Munro]] (the writer [[Saki]]); Bill Mercer is said to have idolised his elder cousin.

Mercer attended St Clare preparatory school in Walmer from 1894 to 1899. The family moved from Kent to London when he joined [[Harrow School]] as a day pupil in 1899, his father selling his solicitor's practice in Kent and setting up office in [[Carey Street]]. Leaving Harrow in 1903, he attended [[University College, Oxford]] in 1904, where he achieved a Third in Law.

At university, he was active in the [[Oxford University Dramatic Society]] (OUDS), becoming secretary in 1906 and president in 1907, his final year. He acted in the 1905 production of [[Aristophanes]]’ ''[[The Clouds]]'', of which the ''Times'' reviewer said: "''Among individual actors the best was Mr. C. W. Mercer, whose 'Strepsiades' was full of fun, and who possesses real comic talent.''"<ref>''Times'' review 2 March 1905</ref> After a small part in the 1906 production of ''[[Measure for Measure]]'', in his final year, he appeared as 'Demetrius' in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', and as 'Pedant' in ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'',<ref name="Smithers, A.J. 1982">{{cite book| author = A. J. Smithers| title = Dornford Yates: A Biography| year = 1982| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton| isbn = 978-0-340-27547-4 }}</ref> a production which included the professional actresses [[Lily Brayton]] as 'Katherine', and her sister Agnes as 'Bianca'.<ref name="Smithers, A.J. 1982"/><ref>''Times'' review 7 February 1907</ref>

Among the many useful friends Mercer made in the OUDS were [[Gervais Rentoul]], who asked him to be his best man,<ref>Rentoul, G. ''This is My Case: An Autobiography'' (1944) Hutchinson</ref> and Lily Brayton's husband, actor [[Oscar Asche]], later producer of the play ''[[Kismet (musical)|Kismet]]'', and writer of ''[[Chu Chin Chow]]''. After university, Mercer took a caravanning holiday in [[Hampshire]], with Asche, Lily, Agnes, and another theatrical couple, [[Matheson Lang]] and his wife, [[Hutin Britton]]; both Asche and Lang recall that holiday in their memoirs.<ref>''Oscar Asche: His Life'' by Himself (1929)Hurst & Blackett</ref><ref>Matheson Lang ''Mr Wu Looks Back'' (1940)Stanley Paul & Co</ref>

Mercer's third-class Oxford [[law degree]] was insufficient to gain him traditional access to the [[Bar (law)|bar]]. However, in 1908 his father obtained his son a post as pupil to a prominent barrister, H. G. Muskett, whose practice often required his appearing in court on behalf of the police commissioner.  As Muskett's pupil, Mercer saw much of the seedy side of London life, some of which is evident in his novels.

In 1909, he was called to the Bar where he worked for several years. In his first memoirs, ''As Berry & I Were Saying'', he recalls his involvement in the trial of the poisoner [[Hawley Harvey Crippen]], when he returned from acting with the [[Old Stagers]], at [[Canterbury]], to have first look at the legal brief. Mercer is in a photograph of the Bow Street Court committal proceedings, published in the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' of 30 August 1910.

In his spare time, he wrote short stories that were published in ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'', ''[[The Harmsworth Red Magazine|The Harmsworth RED Magazine]]'', ''[[Pearson's Magazine]]'', and the ''[[Windsor Magazine]]'', maintaining a relationship with this last until the end of the 1930s; after it closed he wrote for the ''[[Strand Magazine]]''. He also assisted in the writing of ''What I Know'' (Mills & Boon, 1913) - US title ''King Edward As I Knew Him'' - the memoirs of C. W. Stamper, who had been motor engineer to [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VII]].