Family and Education

b. 1746, 2nd s. of Thomas Master^† (1717-49) by Elizabeth Chester, da. and h. of Sir William Cann, 3rd Bt., of Compton Greenfield, Glos.; bro. of Thomas Master*. m. 18 Mar. 1784, Isabella Frances, da. and coh. of William Egerton^†, 5s. 1da.

Offices Held

Ensign, 24 Ft. 1764, lt. 1769, capt. 1771, maj. 1782, ret. 1787.

Consul at Algiers 1797-9; gov. Tobago 1799-d.

Biography

Master turned to banking after retiring from the army in 1787, when the firm of Master, Dawson, Brooks, Kirton and Clayton, later Master, Dawson, Brooks & Co., was established at 26 Chancery Lane, London. After his death it became Dawson, Brooks, Son & Co.

In 1790 he stood again for Cirencester, where his election in 1785 had marked the revival, after a lapse of 36 years, of the family interest on which his father and grandfather had sat for the borough from 1712 to 1749. He only narrowly defeated the late challenge of an outsider, Robert Preston*. No speech or vote of his is recorded before he was unseated in 1792 on Preston’s petition alleging the admission of illegal votes, but he was almost certainly a supporter of government, like his elder brother. In 1791 he was listed among opponents of the repeal of the Test Act in Scotland.

Master obtained appointments overseas in 1797 and 1799, and died in Martinique, 26 Oct. 1800.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: M. J. Williams

Notes