Researching John Mason

Mason drew up a map of the island of Newfoundland. Published in William Vaughan's Cambrensium Caroleia in 1625, the map included previously established placenames as well as new ones such as Bristol's Hope and Butter Pots, near Renews. His tract entitled, was published in 1620 by Mason while in England.

In 1620 King James I's Privy Council issued Mason a commission and provided him with a ship to suppress piracy in Newfoundland. Mason ceased to be Cuper's Cove governor in 1621 and apparently he was not replaced, although the settlement continued to be occupied throughout the seventeenth century.

Upon returning to England, Mason consulted with Sir William Alexander about the possibility of establish settlements on Nova Scotia. In 1622, Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges received a land patent from the Plymouth Council for New England for all the territory lying between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers. In 1629 they divided the grant along the Piscataqua River, with Mason receiving the southern portion. The colony was recharted as the Province of New Hampshire. It included most of the southeastern part of the current state of New Hampshire, as well as portions of present-day Massachusetts north of the Merrimack.

Although Mason never set foot in New England, he was appointed first vice-admiral of New England in 1635. He died that same year while preparing for his first voyage to the new colony.

Mason was born in Orland, Indiana, but grew up in Philadelphia's Germantown. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907 and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley in 1911. His dissertation was an ethnographic study of the Salinan Amerindian ethnic group of California. He also authored a number of linguistic studies, including a study of Piman languages. His later ethnographic works included studies of the Tepehuan.

The first series of Juan Bobo stories published in the U.S. occurred in 1921. They appeared in the Journal of American Folklore under the title Porto Rican Folklore, and were collected by Mason from Puerto Rican school children. The story collection consisted of 56 "Picaresque Tales" about Juan Bobo, and included such exotic titles as Juan Bobo Heats up his Grandmother, Juan Bobo Delivers a Letter to the Devil, Juan Bobo Throws his Brother Down a Well, and Juan Bobo refuses to Marry the Princess.

In 1922, Captain Marshall Field provided funds for an archaeological survey of Columbia. Assistant Curator Mason led the expedition that lasted until August 1923. The Field Museum of Natural History houses a collection of correspondence, largely in the form of letters between Mason and the Curator of Anthropology, Berthold Laufer.

He is also well known for his comprehensive classification of the languages of South America.

Mason was curator of the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania from 1926 until his retirement in 1958.

His papers are housed at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.

Born near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Mason attended country and city schools in Montgomery County and Mount Sterling Law School in Lexington, Kentucky.He was graduated from Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, in 1823.He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Mount Sterling.He engaged extensively in the manufacture of iron.He served as member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1839, 1844, and 1848.He served in the war with Mexico in 1846 and 1847 in Ben McCollough's company of Texas Rangers, Worth's division, under General Taylor.He moved to Owingsville, Kentucky, in 1847.

Mason was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses (March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853).He served as chairman of the Committee on Accounts (Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses).He was not a candidate for renomination in 1852.

Mason was elected to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859).He served as chairman of the Committee on Accounts (Thirty-fifth Congress).He was not a candidate for renomination in 1858.He served as delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention at Charleston, South Carolina.He served as presidential elector on the Democratic ticket of Douglas and Johnson in 1860.During the Civil War served with Texas State troops from Brenham, Texas in 1863.He died in August 1865 near New Orleans, Louisiana on board a steamer on the Mississippi River.He was interred in the State Cemetery, Frankfort, Kentucky.

Mason, born in London in March 1798, was the only son of Alexander Way Mason, chief clerk in the secretary's office of the East India Company's home service, and one of the founders and editors of the ‘East India Register’ in 1803. His grandfather, Charles Mason, served with distinction in the expedition to Guadeloupe in 1758–9, and with the allied army in Germany in 1762 and in 1793–6.

John Charles was educated at Monsieur de la Pierre's commercial school in Hackney and at Lord Weymouth's grammar school at Warminster. For three years he served in the office of Dunn, Wordsworth, & Dunn, solicitors, 32 Threadneedle Street, till in April 1817 he received an appointment in the secretary's office at the East India House on the ground of his father's services—a unique episode in the history of the company's patronage. From 1817 to 1837 he was almost wholly employed upon confidential duties under the committee of secrecy—namely, in 1823 in negotiating a treaty with the government of the Netherlands for the cession of the settlement in the Straits of Malacca to the Dutch; in 1829 in arranging the secret signals for the East India Company's ships; in 1833 in negotiating for the renewal of the company's charter; and in 1834 in the parliamentary inquiry upon matters connected with China. He compiled in 1825–6 ‘An Analysis of the Constitution of the East India Company, and of the Laws passed by Parliament for the Government of their Affairs at Home and Abroad.’ In 1837 he was made secretary of the newly created marine branch of the secretary's office; under his management the Indian navy was greatly improved, the coasts of India were surveyed, and in 1857, on the breaking out of the mutiny, he arranged for the transport of fifty thousand troops to India with great expedition. In September 1858, upon the transfer of the government of India from the company to the crown, he retired from the service, but in January 1859 he was recalled and became secretary of the marine and transport department at the East India House, Leadenhall Street, and afterwards at the India office, Whitehall. The evidence he furnished to the select committees in 1860, 1861, and 1865 on the transport of troops to India led to his being appointed in 1865 the member to represent the government of India on the committee on the Indian overland troop transport service. In accordance with that committee's report of 1867, the Crocodile, Euphrates, Jumna, Malabar, and Serapis were constructed as troop-ships to convey troops to and from India.

In April 1867 he retired from the service, and died at 12 Pembridge Gardens, Bayswater, London, 21 Dec. 1881.

By his wife Jane Augusta, daughter of James Ensor, who died in 1878, he left five daughters and an only son, Charles Alexander James Mason, born in 1832, who served in the Indian (home) service from 1848, became assistant secretary in the military department, and retired in 1882.

He was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2008 to 2010, and a Glasgow City Councillor from 1998 to 2008.

Mason has been involved with charity work, and he is an accountant. He is a practising Christian and believes abortion should not be allowed for social reasons. He has attracted significant controversy for beliefs and comments which critics deemed to be transphobic and homophobic. He also faced significant criticism for keeping his SNP office open to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and for comments describing the Irish Republican Army as "freedom fighters".

Mason who made much of his fortune in dry goods was among the wealthiest landowners in New York City in the early 19th century. He purchased a large portion of what is today Midtown Manhattan in 1825 including much of the land bounded by Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue between 53rd Street and 64th Street.

Mason made his debut for Cumberland County Cricket Club in the 2001 Minor Counties Championship against Lincolnshire, scoring 56. He played three further Minor Counties Championship matches for Cumberland in 2002. In his time with Cumberland, Mason played two List A matches against the Warwickshire Cricket Board the 1st round of the 2002 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy which was held in 2001, and against the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board in the 1st round of the 2003 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy which was held in 2002. In his two List A matches, he scored 16 runs at a batting average of 16.00, with a high score of 14. With the ball, his only List A wicket was Warwickshire Cricket Board captain Naheem Sajjad.