In search of Albert Masters - TV show to track records of Briton who lived in Jorhat

Jorhat Gymkhana Club. File picture

Jorhat, Nov. 7: A woman’s quest to find what happened to her father has taken her search from Auckland in New Zealand to Jorhat.

One of his granddaughters, who is based in New Zealand will accompany a television crew from a channel in that country, which produces a series on missing links worldwide, to dig up the history of a British national who lived here in the 1920s.

Albert Douglas Masters was a member of Assam Valley Light Horse Infantry and went missing in 1932.

In a communiqué to Om Prakash Gattani, a local businessman, David Lomas, producer of a TV series called Missing Pieces, said a television crew would arrive here on November 27.

The crew will film recorded documents regarding Masters, who lived in Jorhat with his wife and three daughters in the 1920s.

Lomas has written that the youngest of Master’s three daughters, who is 84 years old now, is based in Auckland and it was her wish to discover what happened to her father.

Gattani told The Telegraph that he is a member of Jorhat Masonic Lodge and the channel had got his address and telephone number through some contacts.

“I have been trying to dig out whatever history I could regarding Masters and am also in touch with various persons and the Jorhat district administration in this regard,” Gattani said.

Masters was also a member of the Jorhat Masonic Lodge. The communiqué from Lomas said that Masters ran a garage, serviced cars and other machinery here in the 1920s, apart from being part of the infantry, which comprised tea planters and government officials, who had volunteered and were given military training.

Masters’s wife and three daughters returned to England in 1932 and he was supposed to follow after wrapping up things in Jorhat. However, he never returned to England and his family never heard from him again.

His wife, who was left destitute, then approached the Masonic Lodge in London for help. The organisation agreed to pay for the education of her three daughters.

Lomas said after investigating into the missing story, it came to light that Masters had returned to England and changed his name from A.D. Masters to Alec St John Masters and remarried.

Gattani said the TV show would provide an opportunity to portray the rich heritage of this historic town to the rest of the world.

“Jorhat has several heritage buildings, including the more than 100-year-old Gymkhana Club, which could be showcased internationally through the TV series,” he said.

The businessman said the crew would be filming several British-era buildings, including Gymkhana Club and tea gardens, during their three-day visit.

“The TV crew also wanted to film the building housing the Masonic Lodge near the Gymkhana Club but it was dismantled a few years back,” Gattani said.