David Parkes Masson
{{Short description|British philatelist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Parkes Masson
| image = David Parkes Masson.png
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1847}}
| birth_place = Ross-shire, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|12|30|1847|||df=yes}}
| death_place = London, England
| resting_place = Brookwood Cemetery
| occupation = Banker
| spouse = Therese Emilie Louise Masson
| children = 1
| relatives =
| awards =
| education =
| party =
}}
Sir David Parkes Masson {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CIE|VD|FRPSL}} (1847[http://www.abps.org.uk/Home/Who_Was_Who/index.xalter#M Who Was Who in British Philately] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713234319/http://www.abps.org.uk/Home/Who_Was_Who/index.xalter#M |date=13 July 2011 }} Association of British Philatelic Societies 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2011. – 30 December 1915"Death of Sir David Masson." by Wilmot Corfield in The London Philatelist, Vol. XXV, No. 289, January 1916, pp. 6-8.) was a British philatelist, who was one of the "Fathers of Philately" entered on the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921. He was a wealthy banker in India, owned large estates in Malaysia, served as a British military officer, and held a number of important public offices in British India."The Late Sir David Parkes Masson." by Jno. Godinho in The London Philatelist, Vol. XXV, No. 291, March 1916, pp. 65-66. (Reprinted from the Philatelic Journal of India, February 1916.)
Philately
Masson was a former Treasurer, Vice President and President of the Philatelic Society of India and a frequent contributor to the Philatelic Journal of India. He was a member of The Philatelic Society, London, now The Royal Philatelic Society London, and a Fellow of that society from 1899. He formed world class collections of Afghanistan and Kashmir, as well as important collections of Ceylon, Portuguese India, Sirmoor, Poonch and British India. His work showed that the so-called first issue of Kashmir was bogus, a feat which The London Philatelist called "...one of the most memorable and startling of accepted disclosures ever made in philately".[http://www.stampsociety.com/philatelists.htm Distinguished Philatelists - Sir David Parkes Masson - The Greatest Indian Philatelist.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716130402/http://stampsociety.com/philatelists.htm |date=16 July 2011 }} Peshwar Stamp Society. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
Outside philately
Masson was born in Ross-shire in 1847.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9bkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA373 |title=The Cyclopedia of India |volume=II |publisher=The Cyclopedia Publishing Company |location=Calcutta |page=373 |year=1908 |access-date=2020-08-02 |via=Google Books}} He lived much of his life in India. He was Managing Director of the Punjab Banking Co. of Lahore, Karachi and Kashmir. He served as ADC to the Commander-in-Chief and Viceroy of India, and for fifteen years was Lieutenant-Colonel in the 1st Punjab Volunteer Rifles. He was knighted on 20 July 1904.{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Wm. A. |title=The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the Knights Bachelors |date=1971 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company |location=Baltimore |volume=2|page=419 |oclc= 247620448}} He was a Deputy Grand Master of Freemasonry in the Punjab, holder of the Volunteer Decoration, a Member of the Council of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab and a Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire.
Death
File:David Parkes Masson Grave Brookwood.jpg]]
Masson contracted a serious illness while inspecting his estates in Penang and was obliged to return to London, where he died on 30 December 1915. He left a widow, Therese Emilie Louise Masson, and a daughter, Marie Therese Stanley-Creek. He was buried at Brookwood Cemetery on 1 January 1916.
Selected publications
- Jammu and Kashmir. (Two parts bound together) Calcutta & Lahore: Philatelic Society of India, 1900 & 1901. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930073927/http://www.kashmirstamps.ca/MassonContents.html Online excerpts.]
- Sirmoor I. Calcutta: Supplement to the British Journal of India, Vol. 10, 1906.
- The Postage Stamps of Afghanistan. Madras: Philatelic Society of India, 1908. (With B. Gordon Jones)
References
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Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery