William Mecham (1853 – 21 August 1902) was a British cartoonist and performer, taking the stage and pen name Tom Merry.
He was a professional caricaturist who gave 'Lightning Cartoon' presentations on the music hall stage, and was the first celebrity of any kind to appear in a British film.
Cartoonist William Mecham was born in the first quarter of 1853, in the parish of St Saviour, Southwark.GRO index Births Mar 1853, Volume 1d, p.18
Merry was a cartoonist and political satirist, he created the centre spread in colour of The St Stephen's Review, a weekly magazine of political comment published from 1883 to 1892, when it became Big Ben, and closed the following year. Thirty four political lithographs, of statesmen of the era are in the collection of the House of Commons.Tom Merry: Lithographs of political figures (Parliamentary archives) accessed 3 Nov 2007 A number of presentation (signed) copies were also in the personal collection of Winston Churchill, with his father, Lord Randolph Churchill as subject.Political cartoons, mainly by "Tom Merry" for the St Stephen's Review (Churchill Archives Centre Miscellaneous Holding) accessed 3 Nov 2007 He also published in the London edition of the American satirical Puck Magazine, from January 1889 to June 1890.
Merry's musical hall stage act appears to have involved high speed drawing of subjects drawn both from the audience, and of famous figures from memory. The caricatures were drawn at a furious pace, as can be seen in the films that survive.
Early film Birt Acres filmed four separate performances of 'Tom Merry' drawing personalities famous in his day. Films included Tom Merry Lightning Artist Drawing Mr Gladstone (1896)Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching William Gladstone (1896), Birt Acres (1896) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007 and Tom Merry Sketching Lord Salisbury (1896).Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching Lord Salisbury, Birt Acres (1896) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007 Two further films were made, contemporaneous with Acres' films of the opening of the Kiel Canal, in June 1895. They were produced by Robert Paul and featured Merry drawing the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II (1895),Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching Kaiser Wilhelm II, Birt Acres (1895) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007 and Prince Bismarck (1895).Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching Bismarck, Birt Acres (1895) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007 They were made to be shown as a part of the same performance, but the first record of the Merry films is as part of Robert Paul's first theatrical programme at the Alhambra Theatre on 25 March 1896.
The films presaged the animated cartoon. Merry could complete his caricatures in less than a minute, the practical length of the first film reels. To accommodate longer demonstrations, stop motion technology had to be developed.Tom Merry Denis Gifford (Who's Who of Victorian Cinema) accessed 3 Nov 2007
Death Merry also did illustrations for a book on Canvey Island, he died before its publication, and a dedication in the book reads:
Filmography Year Title Role Notes ref Tom Merry, Lightning Cartoonist SpecialtyShort film Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching Kaiser Wilhelm II, Birt Acres (1895) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007 Tom Merry, Lightning Cartoonist II (role unconfirmed) Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching Bismarck, Birt Acres (1895) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007 Tom Merry, Lightning Cartoonist IIISpecialty Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching William Gladstone (1896), Birt Acres (1896) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007 Tom Merry, Lightning Cartoonist IV Tom Merry Lightning Cartoonist, sketching Lord Salisbury, Birt Acres (1896) (BFI) accessed 3 Nov 2007
References
Simon Houfe, Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914 (1978)
External links Westminster Victorian Cartoonists - UK Parliament Living Heritage UK Parliamentary Archives, Lithographs of political figures by William Mecham
Works by William Mecham in the Robinson Collection of Caricatures at the Library of Trinity College Dublin, digitised here Exhibition Drawing Your Attention: Four Centuries of Political Caricatures by the Library of Trinity College Dublin