MASTERS, George Frederick
Born c 1875; died 27 November 1918; buried 28 November 1918; age 42
George Frederick MASTERS was born in Yass in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. His parents were Robert Charles Masters (1837 to 1923, with parents of Sussex stock) and Margaret Jane ROACH (1840 to 1929, born in Gundaroo, NSW). George was the seventh of their nine sons and a daughter.
George left NSW to try life in New Zealand and seems to have arrived around 1910; electoral rolls show him working as a labourer and living in The Avenue, Miramar in 1911.
On 27 March 1912, he married Florence Emily SOLOMON, of Kilbirnie who was born early in 1893 and had attended schools in Newtown and Kilbirnie. She was known as Florrie [1], the eldest of seven children of Cornishman William John and Caroline Solomon née SORENSON. William Solomon worked as a driver while his wife ran the ‘Seaview boarding house’ in South Kilbirnie where George Masters had stayed according to an intriguing advertisement in the Evening Post of 26 February 1912:
‘…If this should meet the eye of George R. Masters, last known Salmons, Seaview Boardinghouse, South Kilbirnie, or anyone knowing present address, please send to W. Evening Post.’
Within a month George and Florrie were married by the Rev. W. Shirer. They set up home in Kilbirnie close to Florrie’s parents. On Christmas Day 1912 their first child, a son, arrived. George and Florrie named him Reginald George; he was followed by Robert William in 1914 and Edward Henry Masters in 1915. A daughter, Marjorie, was also born but her birth date has not been found. The sons were known as Reg, Bob, and Harry [2].
The family lived initially at 3 Bourke Street, Kilbirnie, moving by 1916 to 20 Onepu Road. This was the address George, still working as a labourer, gave when he registered on the World War I reserve roll 1916–17 in the 2nd division.
By March 1918, George Masters had moved his family to 84 Adelaide Road, Newtown and taken up milk vending to bring in the family income. The Evening Post of 1 March 1918 records that George received a court fine of 10 shillings with 15 shillings costs for driving ‘an insufficiently-lighted milk cart along Adelaide Road. It was stated that a motor-car (had) collided with the cart, and was severely damaged.’ It is unclear whether George had been returning to or travelling from the milk treatment depot in upper Tory Street at the time and is similarly unclear exactly where his milk delivery round was located, but the expense was doubtless a blow to his earnings for the month, especially with a wife and four children to feed and clothe. As New Zealand had only 18 000 registered new vehicles in 1926 – spread all around New Zealand (statistics do not appear to be available for the 1918 year), we must assume that the number of all types of vehicles on the roads in Wellington in 1918 formed only a relatively slim portion of this figure. The newspaper report is an interesting one in its concern for the damage sustained by the vehicle owner, rather than the outcome for the cart user earning his living or, indeed, the outcome for the horse that might have been drawing the milk cart. As this was also well before New Zealand led the world by introducing a no-fault accident compensation scheme, we must also hope that George was away from his cart making milk deliveries at the time of the collision and that he escaped personal injury.
When George got sick with influenza his address was recorded as 74 Weld Street in Wadestown. It is possible that this may indicate the location of his milk run if he had suddenly become sicker while working. Many of those making daily deliveries of foodstuffs (necessary before the availability of domestic refrigeration) did their best to maintain supply to those isolated at home by the epidemic. George was taken to the temporary hospital at Wellington College, close to Adelaide Road, and he died there on 27 November 1918. He was buried the next day in a grave in the Anglican 2 section of Karori Cemetery.
In the 1919 Electoral Roll Florrie’s parents, William and Caroline, were registered as living at 84 Adelaide Road – either George and Florrie had moved in with them for assistance with caring for the children, or maybe they had moved in to help care for Florrie and the four children after George died. However, in March 1920, about 20 months after George’s death, William Solomon also died, and he was buried with George.
There were two more burials (of Solomon infants) in the plot in 1920 and 1930, and George’s sister-in-law, Marion Solomon, was also buried there in 1928. George and Florrie’s oldest son, Reginald Masters, an engineer, died aged 24 in 1937 and he too was interred in the plot. The last to be interred in the grave was Florrie, when she died in 1959. Florrie had remarried in 1944 to seaman, John McCall, living with him at 39 Matai Road, Hataitai until her death.
The two plaques on the headstone of the double size plot read:
(Left Side)
DOROTHY MARION dearly beloved daughter
of W J & C SOLOMON
Died 28 April 1928 aged 18 years
REG, dearly loved son of
G and F MASTERS
And brother of
BOB, HARRY AND MARJORIE
Died 6 May 1937 aged 24 years
FLORENCE EMILY (MASTERS) McCALL
Dearly beloved wife of John Died 17 September 1959 aged 68 years
Deeply Mourned
(Right Side)
Our dearly beloved husband and daddy
GEORGE MASTERS
Died 27 November 1918
Aged 42 Years
Erected by his loving wife
And children
Also John William beloved husband
Of CAROLINE SOLOMON
Died 28th February 1920 aged 54
So Loved So Mourned
Until 1921, George’s family of origin in Australia as well as Florrie and his children continued to mark his death with memorial notices.
Their Evening Post insertions in 1919 from his New Zealand family said:
‘In fond and loving memory of my dear husband (George Masters) and Daddy, who died at Wellington College Hospital on the 27th November 1918, of pneumonic influenza
One of the Best.
We miss you, George, for we loved you,
As fond memories we recall;
The parting with dear George
Was the saddest day of all.
Inserted by his loving wife and children’.
From Australian family, the message said:
‘MASTERS In loving memory of our dear son and brother George, who died on the 27th November 1918.
One of the Best.
Not one of us stood beside you, dear George,
To hear your last farewell;
Not one word of comfort could you have
From those who loved you so well.
Inserted by his loving mother, father, and brothers; also his loving sister, Emma Boyton, New South Wales.’
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 149 E
[1] Evening Post 28 February 1921
[2] Burial record from Ancestry
Born c 1875; died 27 November 1918; buried 28 November 1918; age 42
George Frederick MASTERS was born in Yass in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. His parents were Robert Charles Masters (1837 to 1923, with parents of Sussex stock) and Margaret Jane ROACH (1840 to 1929, born in Gundaroo, NSW). George was the seventh of their nine sons and a daughter.
George left NSW to try life in New Zealand and seems to have arrived around 1910; electoral rolls show him working as a labourer and living in The Avenue, Miramar in 1911.
On 27 March 1912, he married Florence Emily SOLOMON, of Kilbirnie who was born early in 1893 and had attended schools in Newtown and Kilbirnie. She was known as Florrie [1], the eldest of seven children of Cornishman William John and Caroline Solomon née SORENSON. William Solomon worked as a driver while his wife ran the ‘Seaview boarding house’ in South Kilbirnie where George Masters had stayed according to an intriguing advertisement in the Evening Post of 26 February 1912:
‘…If this should meet the eye of George R. Masters, last known Salmons, Seaview Boardinghouse, South Kilbirnie, or anyone knowing present address, please send to W. Evening Post.’
Within a month George and Florrie were married by the Rev. W. Shirer. They set up home in Kilbirnie close to Florrie’s parents. On Christmas Day 1912 their first child, a son, arrived. George and Florrie named him Reginald George; he was followed by Robert William in 1914 and Edward Henry Masters in 1915. A daughter, Marjorie, was also born but her birth date has not been found. The sons were known as Reg, Bob, and Harry [2].
The family lived initially at 3 Bourke Street, Kilbirnie, moving by 1916 to 20 Onepu Road. This was the address George, still working as a labourer, gave when he registered on the World War I reserve roll 1916–17 in the 2nd division.
By March 1918, George Masters had moved his family to 84 Adelaide Road, Newtown and taken up milk vending to bring in the family income. The Evening Post of 1 March 1918 records that George received a court fine of 10 shillings with 15 shillings costs for driving ‘an insufficiently-lighted milk cart along Adelaide Road. It was stated that a motor-car (had) collided with the cart, and was severely damaged.’ It is unclear whether George had been returning to or travelling from the milk treatment depot in upper Tory Street at the time and is similarly unclear exactly where his milk delivery round was located, but the expense was doubtless a blow to his earnings for the month, especially with a wife and four children to feed and clothe. As New Zealand had only 18 000 registered new vehicles in 1926 – spread all around New Zealand (statistics do not appear to be available for the 1918 year), we must assume that the number of all types of vehicles on the roads in Wellington in 1918 formed only a relatively slim portion of this figure. The newspaper report is an interesting one in its concern for the damage sustained by the vehicle owner, rather than the outcome for the cart user earning his living or, indeed, the outcome for the horse that might have been drawing the milk cart. As this was also well before New Zealand led the world by introducing a no-fault accident compensation scheme, we must also hope that George was away from his cart making milk deliveries at the time of the collision and that he escaped personal injury.
When George got sick with influenza his address was recorded as 74 Weld Street in Wadestown. It is possible that this may indicate the location of his milk run if he had suddenly become sicker while working. Many of those making daily deliveries of foodstuffs (necessary before the availability of domestic refrigeration) did their best to maintain supply to those isolated at home by the epidemic. George was taken to the temporary hospital at Wellington College, close to Adelaide Road, and he died there on 27 November 1918. He was buried the next day in a grave in the Anglican 2 section of Karori Cemetery.
In the 1919 Electoral Roll Florrie’s parents, William and Caroline, were registered as living at 84 Adelaide Road – either George and Florrie had moved in with them for assistance with caring for the children, or maybe they had moved in to help care for Florrie and the four children after George died. However, in March 1920, about 20 months after George’s death, William Solomon also died, and he was buried with George.
There were two more burials (of Solomon infants) in the plot in 1920 and 1930, and George’s sister-in-law, Marion Solomon, was also buried there in 1928. George and Florrie’s oldest son, Reginald Masters, an engineer, died aged 24 in 1937 and he too was interred in the plot. The last to be interred in the grave was Florrie, when she died in 1959. Florrie had remarried in 1944 to seaman, John McCall, living with him at 39 Matai Road, Hataitai until her death.
The two plaques on the headstone of the double size plot read:
(Left Side)
DOROTHY MARION dearly beloved daughter
of W J & C SOLOMON
Died 28 April 1928 aged 18 years
REG, dearly loved son of
G and F MASTERS
And brother of
BOB, HARRY AND MARJORIE
Died 6 May 1937 aged 24 years
FLORENCE EMILY (MASTERS) McCALL
Dearly beloved wife of John Died 17 September 1959 aged 68 years
Deeply Mourned
(Right Side)
Our dearly beloved husband and daddy
GEORGE MASTERS
Died 27 November 1918
Aged 42 Years
Erected by his loving wife
And children
Also John William beloved husband
Of CAROLINE SOLOMON
Died 28th February 1920 aged 54
So Loved So Mourned
Until 1921, George’s family of origin in Australia as well as Florrie and his children continued to mark his death with memorial notices.
Their Evening Post insertions in 1919 from his New Zealand family said:
‘In fond and loving memory of my dear husband (George Masters) and Daddy, who died at Wellington College Hospital on the 27th November 1918, of pneumonic influenza
One of the Best.
We miss you, George, for we loved you,
As fond memories we recall;
The parting with dear George
Was the saddest day of all.
Inserted by his loving wife and children’.
From Australian family, the message said:
‘MASTERS In loving memory of our dear son and brother George, who died on the 27th November 1918.
One of the Best.
Not one of us stood beside you, dear George,
To hear your last farewell;
Not one word of comfort could you have
From those who loved you so well.
Inserted by his loving mother, father, and brothers; also his loving sister, Emma Boyton, New South Wales.’
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 149 E
[1] Evening Post 28 February 1921
[2] Burial record from Ancestry