The Masters family lived in Brighthelmston, the village that was eventually to become the seaside town of Brighton in East Sussex. The name ‘Masters’ appears as a forename in the Bradford and Balean families. There are many tombstones of the Masters family in St Nicholas’ Churchyard in Brighton and also a sizable family tomb that has an inscription to the memory of Capt. Ninyon Masters, who died 19th May 1766 aged 86 years. The Masters family married into the Bradford family when William Bradford married Joan Masters c. 1725 and on the same tomb are memorials to: Ninyon Masters Bradford, d. 20th August 1841 aged 55 years; William, son of Nathaniel and Sarah Bradford, d. 1834 aged 26 years; Nathaniel Bradford, d. 30th November 1848 aged 67 years and Sarah (Osborne), his wife, d. 28th May 1851 aged 78 years. An intriguing document that has come to hand is the transcript of a letter written to Sarah Harrison in 1894 by a churchwarden of St Nicholas. It details inscriptions on two headstones in the vestry of St Nicholas’ Church. The first is that of Richard Masters,  d. March 1714 aged 77 and his wife Alice, d. 25th May 1696 aged 56 years. The second is that of Capt. Benjamin Masters, d. 28th September 1749 aged 48 and Hannah, wife of Capt. Benjamin Masters, d. 22nd July 1755 aged 50 years.

Ninyan Masters is the earliest member of the Masters family that I can find we have no date or spouse for him but he was the father of four children that we know of:

Thomas Masters (b. 1613) married Agnes Vizard and they had five children; Thomas (1639), Ninian (1643), Richard (1645), Benjamine (1649) and John (1653)

Richard Masters (b.1614) married Joanne Cooke and they had two children; Richard (1634) and Thomas (1641)

John Masters (b.1616).

Benjamine Masters (b.1618) married Elizabeth Bowell and they had a son, Benjamine (1642).

Unfortunately we have no background information about any of these people. Obviously they must have become fairly wealthy and respected in the town since they were granted a prime position for the tomb at St Nicholas Church. One would assume that they were tradesmen of some sort in the town.

Richard Masters (b. 1634) married Alice Adams (b.1640) in 1667. They had four children; John (1679), Richard (1680), Ninyon (1680) and Benjamine (1682). Richard died in 1716 and Alice on 29th August 1696.

John Masters(b. 1634) married Mary Paine. They had five children; Derrick John (1698), Joan (1706), Richard (1708), Mary (1712) and Pain (1715).

Derrick John Masters (b. 1698) had three children to an unknown wife. Richard John (1722), Barbara and Elizabeth.

Joan Masters (b. 1706) married William Bradford (1710) and they had five children; William (1733), Ann, John Masters, Thomas and Nathaniel. William died in 1742 and Joan died in 1782.

Please select the Bradford family tree for descendants of William Bradford (b.1733).

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