Henry Browne Mason's Parents

BRYANT MASON & ELIZABETH BROWNE

Bryant Mason joined the East India Company in 1780 at the age of 18. He arrived in India the following year. In 1785 he married Elizabeth Browne, daughter of Col. Samuel Browne, and he remained in India for the rest of his life, eventually becoming Salt Agent in Hidgellee near Calcutta. Rather than common salt, Bryant Mason's title may refer to saltpetre, a chemical used in the

manufacture of gunpowder, and an important import into England during the Napoleonic Wars.

Bryant Mason sent his wife and youngest son George back to England on the EastIndiaman Lady Jane Dundas in 1807.

In 1809 he was returning to England with his eldest son Francis when, tragically, their ship, the Calcutta, was lost with all hands in the Indian Ocean -- a fate which so often overcame returning company servants, having survived many years of hardship and disease in India. Francis (Frank) Mason had been studying at the Honorable Company's Fort William College near Calcutta.

The Brownes were a famous military family in India, and included two Generals. Sir Samuel James Browne (1824-1901), invented the famous Sam Brown sword belt used by generations of army officers.

We have not conclusively established the family link with Bryant's wife but it seems very likely.

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