John Thornton Masser of Ivy Bank, Mapperley Road, Nottingham and The Oaks, Brighouse, Yorkshire; was the son of the late Thomas Masser of Sawrey House, Bradford, June 24th 1855. He was educated at Bradford High School, the Morvian Settlement at Fulneck and Bramham College, Tadcaster. On his mother's side Mr Masser comes from one of the oldest families in the West Riding of Yorkshire. A family who were engaged in cloth manufacture long before railways were thought of. Having devoted five years to commercial life he decided in his twenty second year to become a solicitor, and articled himself to Mr Thomas Bradley Chambers of Brighouse, senior partner in a well known Yorkshire firm of solicitors. After serving his articles, he spent some years with Messrs.Torr and Company solicitors of 38 Bedford Row, London.

Subsequently he carried on practicing in Nottingham and Brighhouse for some years; becoming a member of the Incorporated Law Society, and the Nottingham Law Society. He was one of the originators of the Nottinghamshire District.

Associate of the Cyclists' Touring Club, and since its formation, he was annually elected by his colleagues as the Representative Councillor for the county. Outside Nottingham and Brighouse Mr Masser was perhaps more widely known as a musical composer, his anthems, and particularly a harvest cantata (of which Messrs. Novello published four editions) were performed at churches and chapels alike, both in London and the provinces. He also compiled and published a psalter and tune book, both of which were in constant use at Addison Street Congregational Church in Nottingham, where he acted as Hon. Organist and Choirmaster for a great number of years. Mr Masser married Jessie Margaret, the youngest daughter of the late Henry Legge of Holly Park, Crouch Hill, Middlesex on July 11th 1885.