DEATHS AND OBITUARIES
Gallery’s welfare. The Gallery houses 26 works by
Gavin in its collection, along with others by his father.
A valuable legacy for future generations.
Gavin filled his years of retirement with his family, his
garden, his pursuit of artistic matters, and his love
of travel. He particularly enjoyed several visits to
Majorca and Malta. His love of fine food and wine
led him in later life to develop his skill as a cook. He
will be missed by all who knew him.
Gavin Mercer (47-48)
Gavin was born in 1933 in Hull and grew up in the
locality of Pateley Bridge. He was a proud Yorkshire
man all his life and Yorkshire had a profound influence
on him, particularly the Yorkshire landscape, which
he recreated in his many drawings, paintings and
sculptures.
After his school days at Pocklington School, Gavin
eventually entered the advertising business of
Tattersalls, which his father, Sidney Agnew Mercer –
also an accomplished artist – had founded.Tattersalls
soon became Yorkshire’s pre-eminent advertising
agency and when a branch in Sheffield was opened,
Gavin was sent to manage it. His combination of
astute business practice and artistic innovation in
advertising soon built up an enviable client base
including Airfix, General Accident, ICI, Tetley’s and
many others.
Gavin’s skill as an artist and draftsman also manifested
itself in his private work with brush, pen and pencil.
In 1955, Gavin and his brother Terrence worked
with their father on a series of Venetian murals for
Harrogate’s Royal Hall. Gavin also went on to work
with his father on murals at Caernarfon Town Hall
and Knaresborough’s Dropping Well Estate. The
beautiful and unusual font at St Helen’s Church,
Skelton-upon-Ure, is a further example of Gavin’s
skill as a designer and craftsman. This font, designed
and made by Gavin, incorporates glass elements,
which he had been taught by glaziers of the York
Minster Glaziers Trust.
At the 75th anniversary of the Lord Mayor of
London’s 1913 visit to Harrogate, Gavin designed
the splendid stained glass panel that was fitted in
the Royal Pump Room Museum, to mark the event.
As a professional advertising man and artist, he was
a member of both the Institute of Practitioners in
Advertising and the Institute of Marketing. He was
also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
For Gavin, art was never merely a professional
activity, but ran through his daily life as a vital force.
Those who knew him will recall occasions at dinner
parties or receptions when Gavin would take a pad
and pen from his pocket and draw a quick sketch of
others in the room, which he would then give away
with touching modesty.
The Mercer name will forever be associated with the
Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate which was created
in very large part thanks to a bequest from Sidney
Agnew Mercer, a bequest that was honourably
discharged by his sons Gavin and Terrence, who
continued to take the greatest interest in the
32
(Obituary kindly submitted)
William Ian Scarborough (94-52)
Ian (he was always known as Ian, never William)
was born in York in June 1935, the only son of Bill
and Mamie. During World War II he could clearly
remember planes flying over York, and as a child
playing in the bomb craters. He left Yorkshire at a
young age but never forgot his Yorkshire roots.
He was educated at Pocklington School after
which he qualified as a quantity surveyor. In 1957
he began National Service in the Royal Artillery
and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. It was
during this time he met Jean and within a year they
were engaged. They married in August 1960 in
Portsmouth and in 2010 they celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary.
In 1960 work in the construction industry took Ian
to South Wales. He and Jean moved to Newport
and sons David, Peter and Andrew were born. In
1967 due to Ian’s work the family moved to Watford.
In 1971 he was offered a promotion with Norwest
Holst to a position in Cardiff and the family moved
to Coed y Paen. In 1980 he was promoted to
managing director of Norwest Holst and worked in
London Monday to Friday for 3 years. In later years
he was to set up his own property development
company.
Ian had many good friends and neighbours and
enjoyed socialising and hosting parties and drinks.
His love of music saw him joining three choirs:
Monmouth Choral, The Flying Shepherds and
Accord, and he performed in places as far apart as
Monmouth and Budapest. He also enjoyed visits to
the opera.
In 1973 Ian and Jean with another family had a holiday
home in Llansaint, Carmarthenshire and enjoyed
many family holidays there. He became involved
in the restoration of the church tower in Llansaint,
He had always been involved in the church, a former
choir boy in York and a churchwarden here in Coed
y Paen. He had been a member of the Parish Church
Council for many years and an enormous help in
maintaining the fabric of the church.
Ian also had a great love of sport especially rugby
and cricket. In 1973 he was lucky enough to go to
Cardiff Arms Park to watch the All Blacks play the
Barbarians, in arguably the greatest Rugby match
of all time. In 2005, at great expense, Ian hired a
box at Lords for 16 peopl e for the third day of the
first Ashes test of that famous series. Unfortunately,
it rained that day and play did not start until just
before tea. England quickly lost their remaining
5 wickets and lost the first match of the series in
about 25 minutes; Ian soon ruefully realised that that
25 minutes had cost him about £3000 – being a
Yorkshireman this hurt him more than the result!
In later years, Ian and Jean enjoyed travelling and
holidaying in far flung places such as Iceland, Australia
and China.
Ian was a true family man and was very proud of his
three boys, his daughters-in-law Clare and Rachel,
and his four grandchildren James, Charlotte, Beth
and Dylan.
(Obituary kindly submitted)
F Denness Tattersall (43-44)
Denness attended Pocklington School as a boarder
in Wilberforce Lodge under the housemastership of
Tom Pay. He took part in all aspects of school life and
particularly enjoyed playing rugby. Afterwards he
went into farming on the family farm near Ellerton,
before moving to the Thirsk area when he got
married. He was a skilled horseman and took part in
hunting; he also enjoyed taking his son to numerous
show jumping events both locally and nationally. He
successfully competed in ploughing matches winning
prizes on several occasions. He was married to
Kathleen and had two daughters and a son.