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 1819 - 1895 (75 years)
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| Name |
Herman Dirs Mertens |
| Birth |
9 Nov 1819 |
Greater London, England  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Occupation |
Solicitor |
| Burial |
Apr 1895 |
Worthington, Worthing Borough, West Sussex, England [1] |
| Death |
17 Apr 1895 |
Broadwater, Worthing Borough, West Sussex, England [1] |
| Person ID |
I718 |
Gardiner |
| Last Modified |
20 May 2023 |
| Family 1 |
Emma Neame, b. Nov 1830, Margate, Thanet, Kent, England d. 18 Feb 1858, Margate, Thanet, Kent, England (Age 27 years) |
| Marriage |
1848 |
| Family ID |
F249 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
20 May 2023 |
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| Notes |
- Although he is named on this memorial stone, Sussex Parish registers (familysearch.org) note him as being buried in St Andrews Churchyard, Tarring, Worthing on 20th April 1895.
Sarah was his second wife. They married in 1861.
His first wife was Emma Neame whom he married in 1848
Mertens was a London-born solicitor, who, in 1841 was appointed by the Lord Chancellor to be a Master Extraordinary in the High Court of Chancery. in 1851 he was in practice in Cecil Square with his brother-in-law, William Brooke. He was something of a visionary and saw significant development opportunities in the Margate area which he was able to exploit through his,and his brother's, connections.
His brother, George, was a director of the new railway company that had been set up to build the proposed London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Mertens and Brooke were aware of when family farms came up for sale, often on the death of a family member.
By the time the new railway reached Margate in the late summer of 1863, Mertens was the owner of all the land that would, one day, become the CT8 postcode area.
The development of Westgate-on-Sea shows meticulous planning. The editor of Keble's Gazette wrote on September 23, 1871: "There are evident signs that Westgate is destined to become, in every way, in very few years, a watering-place of considerable size.
"We see indications that the estate is managed by a master mind."
To acquire the land that he needed had required the borrowing of a substantial sum. Mertens did not intend to develop the land himself and, while waiting to find the ideal man to do so, he began to sell or lease small parcels of land at the eastern end of Marsh Bay (later re-named St Mildred's) to individuals.
By 1871 it seems he had retired from practicing law and described himself as deriving income from landownership.
In 1891 he had left the Margate area and was living in Hillcote house, Broadwater Street, Broadwater, West Sussex. [1]
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