Alexander Mason

Alexander Mason was born on 7 May 1569 and died on 3 March 1627. He is identified as Barbara’s 12th great-grandfather through the Mason line and as the father of Robert Mason in the supplied relationship path. The surviving notes associate research on Alexander and later Mason generations with records in Bolton, Lancashire, England, but provide no direct narrative of Alexander’s occupation, residence, marriage, or children beyond the stated descent line.

Alexander Mason was born on 7 May 1569. He is identified in the supplied family relationship path as the father of Robert Mason and as an ancestor in Barbara’s family.

Family-tree notes state that information concerning Alexander, his father Robert, and his grandfather Alexander was obtained by Edward H. L. Mason from Helen Pierce of Swansea, Massachusetts, on 22 April 1999. The notes say that the material had been provided to Helen Pierce by Anne O. Mueller of Camden, Maine, who researched in England. The cited research includes Bolton archival repositories and the register of St. Peter’s Church, Bolton le Moors, Lancashire.

Alexander Mason died on 3 March 1627. No occupation, residence, spouse, or burial information is supplied for him.

The family-tree notes also contain an account of the 1644 siege and massacre of Bolton during the English Civil War, naming “Alexander Mason, Junior” and Robert Mason among its victims. Because Alexander Mason’s supplied death date is 1627, that 1644 account cannot describe his own death; it appears to concern later family members or to require further verification.

Historical context

The supplied notes describe Bolton as a Puritan and Parliamentarian outpost during the English Civil War. They state that Royalist forces attacked in February 1643 and March 1644, and that a final assault on 28 May 1644 succeeded after a brief siege. The notes characterize the event as the Bolton Massacre and state that many Parliamentarian soldiers were killed and others taken captive. This event occurred seventeen years after Alexander Mason’s stated death on 3 March 1627, so it is not part of his personal life story.

Sources & research

Family Tree Maker notes, citing: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=edmason_1&id=I02259.

Helen Pierce, Swansea, Massachusetts; information reportedly provided to Edward H. L. Mason on 22 April 1999.

Anne O. Mueller, Camden, Maine; reported researcher in England.

Bolton Archives and Local Studies Services, cited as follows:
1. Central Library, Civic Center, Bolton BL1 15ER, England.
2. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A, 1HP, England.
3. Register of St. Peter’s Church, Bolton le Moors, Lancashire, England, beginning in 1584.
4. Marriage Register, Alexander Mason to Anne Shawe, 4 October 1623.
5. Neil D. Thompson, Ph.D., Legal and Genealogical Research, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103-4545.