Dignitaries in England and Wales, 1800–1840' (1890).
In 1885 Foster undertook to edit for publication the transcripts by Joseph Lemuel Chester [q. v.] of the 'Oxford Matriculation Register,' and the 'Bishop of London's Register of Marriage Licences,' which had become the property of Mr. Bernard Quaritch. Foster copiously supplemented Chester's work from his own independent researches. The 'Oxford Matriculation Register,' alphabetically arranged, was published in eight volumes under the title 'Alumni Oxonienses'; four volumes, covering the period 1715-1886, appeared in 1887, and another four volumes, covering the period 1500-1714, in 1891. By way of recognition of this service the university gave him the honorary degree of M.A. in 1892. Next year he carried his work a stage further in 'Oxford Men and their Colleges.' 'London Marriage Licences' (1521-1869) was published from Chester's transcript in 1887. In later life Foster wrote much on heraldry. There appeared in 1897 his 'Concerning the Beginnings of Heraldry as related to Untitled Persons.' To a series of volumes, issued under the auspices of the eighth Lord Howard de Walden and called the 'De Walden Library,' Foster contributed 'Some Feudal Coats of Arms from Heraldic Rolls' (1902); 'A Tudor Book of Arms,' 'Some Feudal Lords and their Seals,' and 'Banners, Standards and Badges' (1904). Foster's heraldic work was severely censured by Mr. Oswald Barron, editor of the 'Ancestor,' to whose strictures he replied in two pamphlets, 'A Herald Extraordinary' and 'A Comedy of Errors from Ancestor III' (1902-3). Foster's work met with very little support in his lifetime, though some of his compilations are of great and permanent value. He was not a scholarly archæologist, but his energy as a transcriber and collector of genealogical data has few parallels in recent times.
He died at his residence, 21 Boundary Road, St. John's Wood, on 29 July 1905, being buried at Kensal Green cemetery. His name is also inscribed on a memorial stone in Bishop Wearmouth cemetery. He married, on 12 Aug. 1869, Catherine Clark, eldest daughter of George Pocock of Burgess Hill, Sussex, and by her had two sons and three daughters.
Foster's library of books and manuscripts, many of them plentifully annotated, was privately dispersed at his death. Four volumes of grants of arms were secured for the British Museum, Add. MSS. 37147-37150.
Besides the works mentioned, Foster's publications include:
- 'Our Noble and Gentle Families of Royal Descent,' 2 vols. 4to. 1883; large edit. 1885.
- 'Noble and Gentle Families entitled to Quarter Royal Arms,' 1895.
He also edited 'Visitation Pedigrees' for Durham (1887), for Middlesex (1889), for Northumberland (1891), and for Cumberland and Westmoreland (1891).
[Allibone's Dict. Suppl. 1891; Brit. Mus. Cat.; The Times, 1 Aug. 1905; private information.]
Note: the initials P. L.. are ambiguous. They refer to one of:
- Author:Perceval Lucas in DNB Second Supplement
- Author:Percy Lubbock in DNB Third Supplement
- Editor: Please replace template with {{DNB PL Lucas}} or {{DNB PL Lubbock}}
FOSTER, Sir MICHAEL (1836–1907), professor of physiology in the University of Cambridge, born at Huntingdon on 8 March 1836, was eldest child in a family of three sons and seven daughters of Michael Foster, F.R.C.S., surgeon in Huntingdon, by his wife Mercy Cooper. Sir Michael's grandfather, John Foster, was a yeoman farmer of Holywell, Hertfordshire, with antiquarian tastes, who left to the British Museum a collection of coins found in his neighbourhood. The father was a baptist and his family lived in an atmosphere of fervent nonconformity. Foster was educated first at Huntingdon grammar school and later (1849-1852) at University College School, London. The religious tests demanded by the University of Cambridge stood in the way of his entering for a scholarship there. At the age of sixteen he matriculated at the University of London, and graduated B.A. in 1854 with the university scholarship in classics. Choosing his father's profession, Foster in 1854 began the study of science and medicine at University College. There in 1856 he obtained gold medals in anatomy and physiology, and in chemistry. In 1858 he proceeded M.B., and in 1859 M.D. of London University. The next two years were spent partly in medical study in Paris as well as at home, and partly in original investigation. Owing to threatenings of consumption he went on a sea voyage as surgeon on the steamship 'Union' without beneficial result. In 1861 he joined his father in practice in Huntingdon. His health improved, and in 1867 he accepted an invitation from Prof. Sharpey to become teacher in practical physiology in University College, London. There he rapidly showed his practical gifts as a teacher. Two years later he was appointed professor in the same subject, and he succeeded Huxley as Fullerian professor
