Captain John Mason (1586–1635) was born in Norfolk. He was a sailor, explorer, cartographer and colonizer and appointed the second Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland's Cuper's Cove colony in 1615, succeeding John Guy. Mason arrived on the island in 1616 and explored much of the territory, mapping the island for the first time and writing a book on his findings. He returned to England after becoming tired of mediating disputes between and among settlers and migratory fishermen. Mason ceased to be Cuper's Cove governor in 1621 and was not replaced. The colony was ultimately abandoned by its settlers, possibly as late as the early 18th century.

In 1621 Mason moved to New England and consulted with Sir William Alexander about possibly colonizing Nova Scotia. In 1622, Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges received a patent from the Council for New England for all the territory lying between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers. In 1629 they divided the grant along the Piscataqua River, with Mason receiving the southern portion. The colony was recharted as the Province of New Hampshire. It included most of the southeastern part of the current state of New Hampshire, as well as portions of present-day Massachusetts north of the Merrimack.

Mason was appointed first vice-admiral of New England in 1635 but died in December of the same year as he was about to return to his plantations there.

See: Governors of Newfoundland

See also: John Y. Mason, U.S. Attorney General