The Masterton Family
This site is intended to provide a knowledge bank for a small community of interest - the present day successors of those who have shared common roots. Some of these are documented. Many are not.
There are a number of Masterton researchers who have freely exchanged information. The wonderful aspect of giving knowledge is that we are not diminished by the giving - and if we receive in return, we are enriched. Special mention should be made of David Masterton of Whippany, New Jersey. His work provided the foundation of much of what you see here. I have only expanded upon it.
This site is dedicated to all who came before us, each unique in different ways, but who collectively have created the surroundings and the culture that we all enjoy, or tolerate, today. Our civilisation today is shaped by the sum of all their actions.
Searching for our Sense of Place
The desire to understand our origins and our roots is a pervading drive in many of us. We cannot help being curious, and some of us get mildly obsessed with building the picture of our ancestors and their successes and failures. The interest starts with the fun of researching some unknown names from previous generations, linked by the accident of birth. It develops into an interest in the social and historical context of their place in the evolution of our modern civilisation. Here are some links to 3437 Mastertons built up along this journey of exploration:
"Records not linked" will take you to a miscellany of records of births, marriages and deaths, some in isolation, some in mini-trees, but none yet linked to the other 29 trees. If you can identify any links, or find matches within these random records, I'd be delighted to hear from you. Use it as a sandbox and play!
The following trees contain a mix of Mastertons and Mastersons in the records. My view is that the two families from Athelstaneford and Leith are originally Mastersons, and may have come to Scotland from Ireland:
| Athelstaneford | Leith |
The trees are based on registration or other documented information, but making connections for people who died before 1855 involves making some judgements. Clues such as age at marriage, neighbourhood, and consistency with Scottish Naming Pattern all help, but no guarantees can be given. Sources are provided and users must take their own view of whether my deductions (or those on whom I've relied) are the most rational. I'm perfectly happy to receive challenges, queries and new information that might improve the value of the site. In the early records there are many spelling variants of "Masterton" (I have found 87 - all of them are listed under Spelling). I have, for the convenience of researchers using search engines, converted these consistently to the modern spelling. The original spelling is referred to in notes attached to the trees.
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This site uses The Next Generation of Genealogy SitebuildingŠ ("TNG") for displaying genealogical data. Information is stored in database tables and accessed without the need for large numbers of html files. The program was developed by Darrin Lythgoe. My name is Gordon Masterton. If you are a Masterton, or have Masterton connections, and would like to receive a note of when updates are made to this site, then please email me with a request. I have a great deal of information about Mastertons yet to be posted. Until I get more information uploaded onto the site, I will be happy to assist with any enquiries. Just click on "Contact Us" below. Sign our Guestbook |
Most Recent Site Updates
15 May 2008: New page on Jacobus Maestertius, professor of law in Leiden; 2 May 2008: Additional material on Allan Masterton. 27 April 2008: the curious tale of Dewar Masterton and his unlucky marriage; 21 April 2008: Yet more unlinked records added to the database, which now lists a total of 1305 Mastertons not yet linked to the other 29 trees. This includes all Scottish records of births before 1855 (except in Alyth - new tree pending); marriages before 1855; marriages of male Mastertons from 1855 to 1927. 19 April 2008: Image of Braco Castle added to Paton's genealogy. 29 March 2008: Links from the Douglas, Stodart and Paton genealogies to some paintings of Masterton Coats of Arms made by Carola Mesterton of Sweden. 23 March 2008: A MAJOR CHANGE of platform for the family trees now uses 'TNG' software which allows enhanced presentation and searching across all trees, and improved cataloguing and access to images. 9 March 2008: A new fictional Masterton has been added - Dawn Masterton of Baywatch!