Major James Edward Ignatius MastersonVC (20 June 1862 – 24 December 1935) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Early career
He was born the son of Elizabeth Christina and her husband Thomas, a soldier of the 2nd Battalion, 21st Foot, who served from 1850 to 1872.[2] During this time, the family lived in Ireland, India and Burma.[3][4] His father became quartermaster for the 3rd Militia Battalion on 1 April 1878,[5] and the family resided at Hounslow Barracks at the time of the 1881 census.[6]
The Second Boer War broke out in South Africa in October 1899, and the British government soon realized they would need more troops. Masterson arrived in late 1899 with the 1st battalion of his regiment, and were involved in the Relief of Ladysmith.[7]
Victoria Cross
Masterson was 37 years old, and a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, when the following deed took place on 6 January 1900, at Wagon Hill, Ladysmith, South Africa for which he was awarded the VC:
During the action at Wagon Hill, on the 6th January, 1900, Lieutenant Masterson commanded, with the greatest gallantry and dash, one of the three companies of his regiment which charged a ridge held by the enemy and captured their position.
The companies were then exposed to a most heavy and galling fire from the right and left front. Lieutenant Masterson undertook to give a message to the Imperial Light Horse, who were holding a ridge some hundred yards behind, to fire to the left front and endeavour to check the enemy's fire.
In taking this message he crossed an open space of a hundred yards which was swept by a most heavy cross fire, and although badly wounded in both thighs, managed to crawl in and deliver his message before falling exhausted into the Imperial Light Horse trench. His unselfish heroism was undoubtedly the means of saving several lives.[9]
He was severely wounded during the action, and placed in a field hospital. In February 1900 he was promoted to captain (the appointment was dated back to 1 January 1900).[10] After returning to active service, he received a brevet promotion to major on 29 November 1900 (gazetted in a 1901 South Africa Honours list), and stayed in South Africa until after the war formally ended in June 1902. His regiment's 1st Battalion had transferred to British India, and Masterson left Point Natal on the SS Ionian in November 1902 to join it at Ranikhet, Bengal Presidency.[11]
Later career
He transferred to the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment as a Major in 1911 and retired in 1912. In 1914 he returned to the Army. He failed the medical inspection and was deemed unfit for active service overseas. Nonetheless, he served for five years as a deputy director of Railway Transport, administrative services and departments, on the Embarkation & Transport staff. He was at Military Embarkation Port No.1, Southampton Docks.[12][13][14]
His father, Thomas, born in Portsmouth, relocated here in the 1890s. He, as his son, took up residence in nearby Waterlooville in 1902.[12] He died at Waterlooville, Hampshire, England, on 24 December 1935, aged 73.[15]
His great grandfather, Sergeant Patrick Masterson of the 87th Foot, captured a Napoleonic eagle at the Battle of Barossa in 1811 and was given a field commission;[17][18] this is portrayed in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Fury. A spectacle akin to a Royal Tournament, The Army Pageant held in 1910 at Fulham Palace, saw a re-enactment of this feat, with Masterson portraying the Sergeant.[19]
^"UK, Worldwide Army Census, 1861". Muster Books and Pay Lists. Retrieved 6 October 2024 – via Fold3. Full Name(s): Masterson, Thomas; Rank Name: Colour Sergeant; Service Number: 688; Duty Location: Birr, Ireland; Regiment: 2nd Battalion 21st Foot; Service: British Army; Archive reference: WO 12/3854
^"UK, Worldwide Army Index, 1871". Muster Books and Pay Lists. Retrieved 6 October 2024 – via Fold3. Full Name(s): Masterson, Thomas; Rank Name: Quartermaster Sergeant; Service Number: 688; Duty Location: Thayetmyo, Burma; Regiment: 2nd Battalion 21st Foot; Service: British Army; Archive reference: WO 12/3865
^Hart's Annual List (1884), Militia Infantry p.716
^"1881 England Census". Retrieved 6 October 2024 – via Ancestry. Rank: Quartermaster, Military Unit: 3rd R Mx Militia, ED, institution, or vessel: Hounslow Barracks, Archive reference: RG 11/1340
^ abcHart's Army list. Notes to the Devonshire Regiment [of their officers' war services]. 1901. p. 246a.
^"The Army in South Africa – Movement of Troops". The Times. No. 36930. London. 20 November 1902. p. 11. She had on board the following:- 2nd Batt. Devonshire Regt.- Maj. Masterson
^"[Biography of] James Edward Ignatius Masterson". The Register of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 licensed from www.casus-belli.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2024 – via FindMyPast. The Register is a unique database for genealogists, military historians and medal collectors. It contains hundreds of thousands of names, including a comprehensively revised list of casualty records.
^"By the way". The News (Portsmouth). 27 December 1935. p. 6. Retrieved 6 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive. Professor Oman, in the History of the Peninsular War, writes: "Masterson is a hereditary name of glory in the 87th. The present representative of the family won his Victoria Cross at Ladysmith in 1900. Major Masterson was the last surviving son of the late Captain [Thomas] Masterson, and great-grandson of Captain [Patrick] Masterson, Royal Irish Fusiliers, who captured the French Eagle at the Battle of Barossa in 1811.
