John Masterton (1855-1926)
Tragic road accident survivor
John Masterton of Bathgate was involved at the age of 12 in a tragic incident in Bathgate which claimed the life of his young friend, William Calder.
Genealogy
John Masterton was the seventh of a family of nine born to James Dickson Masterton and Marion Samuel. John was later to become a journeyman baker and married Jane Baillie. They lived in Bathgate and had nine children between 1881 and 1898. Jane died in 1917 and John survived to his 71st year in 1926.
Fuller details of the extended family of John Masterton can be found in the following link.
Caledonian Mercury
BATHGATE - FATAL ACCIDENT.- On Thursday afternoon an accident of a very distressing nature occurred here, whereby William Calder, a promising boy, twelve years of age, son of Mr James Calder, carrier, was deprived of life.
He had been riding with another boy named Masterton, in a pony van, when the pony ran off, and the boys having lost control of it, both boys were thrown out. Masterton escaped unhurt, he having been thrown out behind, but Calder having been ejected in front of the van one of the wheels passed over his head, whereby he sustained a very severe fracture of the skull, and died in about eight hours after the accident.
Caledonian Mercury
Saturday, 21st July 1866
Identifying the Masterton boy
The newspaper article does not name John Masterton, just that another boy named Masterton was in the pony van. The assumption made is that the two boys were of similar age and both lived in Bathgate. The 1861 and 1871 Census returns provide conclusive proof that William Calder who died in the accident had been living in Engine Street, Bathgate in 1861, with his parents, James Calder and Mary (further research shows her maiden surname as Gillon, and that they had been married in 1847) and four siblings. In 1871 the family were living in 1 Lily Bank Place, Bathgate with no William in the family home.
Of the Mastertons in Bathgate in 1861, there were three families and three independent adults at various addresses. Only one family, living at 37 Livery Street, had youngsters close to the six year old William Calder, the closest in age being John Masterton, born on 10 April 1855, much closer to the age of 6 than 5 (as listed, correctly, given the Census date of the night of 7/8 April 1861). The only other Masterton candidates in Bathgate are his older brother Robert (8) and younger brother Thomas (3). But young boys with a two year and a three year age difference, whilst not impossible, are unlikely to have been playmates for young William. A two year gap at the age of twelve is a very big gap!
The proximity of the two families provides circumstantial evidence in support. The extract below of the 1854 Ordnance Survey street map of Bathgate shows that the families lived on the same thoroughfare running north-south near the centre of the town. It was named Livery Street to the north of Hopetoun Street, and Engine Street to the south. Livery Street is still named that today, but Engine Street is now George Street.
Thus, on the balance of probabilities, John Masterton, son of James Dickson Masterton and Marion Samuel, is the most likely survivor of that tragic accident.