Children of Ann and Myles Birket Foster

Alice Mary Merz, 'Family Notes', typescript

The death was reported yesterday of Mr. Robert Foster, of the Quarries, west, Newcastle, and old and much esteemed citizen. Mr. Foster was originally a schoolmaster, but retired from the profession many years ago. He was a member of a well-known Quaker family, one of his brothers being Mr. Birket Foster, the artist. Mr. Foster, who was a widower, died after a short illness, at an advanced age.

FOSTER.—Newcastle-on-Tyne, The Quarries West, his residence, on the 16th inst., in his 87th year, Robert Foster. Interment at Elswick Cemetery on Saturday, 19th, at 2 o'clock. No cards.

JOSEPH FOSTER,

TAILOR AND DRAPER,

15, NORFOLK STREET,

BISHOPWEARMOUTH.

JOSEPH FOSTER'S

FASHIONABLE TAILORING ESTABLISHMENT,

15, NORFOLK STREET, SUNDERLAND.

BLACK or BLUE DRESS COATS, 35s to 45s; BLACK TROWSERS, 20s to 25s. Material—Excellent. Fit—Warranted. Cut—Fashionable. Terms—Ready Money.

F J.F. has just received a large variety of BEAVERS and other TOP COATINGS, FANCY DOESKINS, &c., which he will offer at a moderate profit for cash.

Sunderland, Nov. 3, 1848.

JOSEPH FOSTER,

TAILOR AND DRAPER,

15, NORFOLK STREET, SUNDERLAND.

IN returning thanks to his Friends and the Public for past favours, informs them he has received a STOCK OF GOODS suitable for the present and approaching season; to an inspection of which he respectfully calls their early attention.

    Oct. 18, 1849.

MR Joseph Watson, tailor and woollen draper, of the High Street, Sunderland, died yesterday morning, at about four o'clock, of disease of the heart. Deceased was well when he retired to bed, and attended to his business on the previous day.

At BISHOPWEARMOUTH, 9th inst., suddenly, aged 45, Mr. Joseph Foster, merchant tailor.

MESSRS. M.B. FOSTER AND SONS' ENTERTAINMENT TO THEIR EMPLOYES.

One of those pleasing events which occasionally occur to revive our faltering confidence in the progressive improvement of society took place on Saturday evening under the happiest auspices. The occasion was the celebration of the thirty-sixth anniversary of the foundation of the well-known firm of M.B. Foster and Sons, Ale and Beer Merchants, of Marylebone-road and Brook-street, and the event was the thirty-sixth annual entertainment given by that firm to its employés. Lord's Cricket-ground—or rather the commodious and well-appointed hostelry which forms an integral and eminently essential portion of that famous resort—was again selected by the Messrs. Foster for the scene of the festivities, and here every preparation had been made which their liberal and genial character could suggest to render the anniversary as pleasingly memorable as its predecessors.

[more detail on the evening's events . . . ]

Mr. COXON then gave "The Health of Messrs. Dodshon Foster and John Foster," which was received with vehement and long-sustained applause. This firm, he said, had now been in existence for something like forty years, and during that long period it had been notable alike for its honourable transactions and for its wonderful progress. It was now the largest of its class in the whole world. He had had great experience upon that point; and he also said confidently that there was no business in the world that was better managed. The Messrs. Foster were not only excellent men of business, but they had a wonderful faculty of making firm friends of all their customers.—(Hear, hear.) He begged leave to propose, therefore, "The Healths of Messrs. John and Dodshon Foster."—(Loud cheers.)

[John Foster replied on behalf of himself and his brother]

Mr. DICKINSON next proposed "The Brewers, Distillers, Hop Merchants, Wine and Brandy Merchants, and other Supporters of the Institution." He said nothing could be more pleasing to their Chairman than to see so many friends of the Wholesale Trade rally around him on that occasion. Amongst them he was happy to find Mr. Dodshon Foster, one of their most liberal supporters, a gentleman who gave last year 500 guineas, the year before 600 guineas, and on the present occasion he had produced something like 140 guineas for the benefit of the Asylum.—(Cheers.)

[ . . . ] Mr. Dodshon Foster, who is so well known for his kindness and liberality towards the Volunteer movement, provided refreshments for the occasion. [ . . . ]

NORTH WOOLWICH.—DEATH OF MR. D. FOSTER.—Mr. Dodshon Foster, the head of the firm of Messrs. M.B. Foster and Sons, the proprietors of the Victoria Ales Stores at North Woolwich and Marylebone Road, died on Wednesday week, at his residence, Carlton Villas, Maida Vale, after a short but painful illness of only a fortnight's duration. He was taken ill on Saturday week with bronchitis and congestion of the lungs. Medical advice was immediately procured, yet notwithstanding the eminent advice and almost constant attendance of Sir W. Jenner and Sir G. Burrows, physicians to Her Majesty, he sank under the affliction, and peacefully passed away at half-past five on the day above mentioned. Mr. Dodshon Foster was well known as a liberal patron of the arts and sciences, his collection of objects of vertu being both unique and invaluable. The literary world loses in him a staunch and esteemed supporter, while his munificent support of all the charities, more particularly the Licensed Victuallers' Asylums and Schools, will for ever be acknowledged as most bounteous and effective. He was universally beloved for his generous nature and unbounded hospitality, and his memory will long be cherished, not only by his family and immediate friends, but by all who appreciate English character in its best and noblest form. We trust, and indeed believe, that the stores at North Woolwich, where some 120 men and boys are employed all the year round, will, notwithstanding the loss to the firm of its head, still continue to find employment for our superabundant labour as heretofore.

JOHN HARRISON FOSTER . I am in partnership with my brother, as bottled ale and porter-merchants; our counting-house is in Brook-street. Noble has been our carman rather more than six months—we have two other carmen—they drive separate carts, which have the name of our firm on them in letters about the length of my finger—they are not exactly similar—it was Noble's duty, when he took out articles to customers, to bring back empty bottles—when in consequence of business the carmen did not return till after business hours, I told them to take the baskets and bottles round to Mr. Woolley's stables, and we would unload them in the morning—that has been the habit for some time, whenever they came in late—that happened to be the case on the night of 11th July—when Noble came back, I desired him to take the cart and baskets to the stable, as it was too late to unload them after taking the account of what he had brought, from his own lips—next morning I was at the cellars at 8 o'clock, my usual time, and Noble was brought in custody about half-past eight by the policeman, who had been employed by our firm to watch our carmen—we had before that missed bottles; in taking oar stock we found great deficiency—the officer said, in Noble's presence, that these two baskets were what he had delivered at Beasley's—I said to Noble, "Henry, whatever is this?" he said, "O, it is a mistake, Sir"—"A mistake," I said—he said, "It is the first time, Sir, I ever did such a thing; I must go down on my knees to you, and beg of you for the sake of my wife and family to look over it"—I said, "This is a dreadful thing, Henry"—he said, "I must go down on my knees to you," he kept repeating that over and over again—he said, "I hope you will not lock me up, I never did such a thing before"—I said, "Why, you did it yesterday"—he said, "Me, Sir, Lord bless you, it is quite a mistake"—I said, "You don't know that the police have been watching you for some time, and saw you do it?"—he said, "I assure you, Sir, it is the first time I ever did such a thing in my life"—I counted the bottles in the cart, there were twenty-five dozen, and one, not including the thirty-nine which had been taken to Beasley's—Noble had represented to me the night before, that his cart contained twenty-six dozens—

I have the entry here in his own hand-writing to three different customers—here is eight dozen, twelve dozen, and six dozen—after this I went with the officer to Beasley's—I have known him for some time—he carries on the business of a bottle-merchant, and has a shop where he sells milk—I had been to his premises before—there is a room some distance up the gateway which projects across the gateway—the room has three windows—Beasley was at home when we went—I believe he came up from the lower-part of the yard towards the archway—we met him—I think the officer spoke first, he called out loudly, "Mr. Beasley," and he appeared—I said to him, "Have you bought any bottles of our carman this morning"—he said, "I don't know but I believe he has left some, for I was not in the way at the time"—I said "How came you to buy bottles of a man that was our carman?"—" O," he said, "I used to deal with him when he was in business on his own account"—I said, "But you knew he was our carman"—he said, "Only lately"—I think I asked him how many times he had bought bottles of him—(I believe I first mentioned the name of Noble to him—I am certain I mentioned the name)—he said two or three times—I asked if he had bought bottles of any of the other carmen, and he said, "No, I don't know them"—when I asked Beasley whether Noble had left any bottles that morning, he said he was not in the way—the officer said to him, "Why I saw you, and you nodded to him"—Beasley said, "Saw me! why I have not been out of doors this morning"—the officer said, "I suppose you don't call this out of doors"—(we were then through the archway, just in the open air)—he said, "I tell you I have not been out of doors this morning; I have only just come downstairs; I have been ill nearly all night"—it was then about nine o'clock—I saw him shortly afterwards at the station—he was sent for, and the inspector said, "You are charged with receiving these bottles, knowing them to be stolen"—he said, "I know nothing about their being stolen"—I do not remember that he said anything more—I afterwards searched the stable, in company with the officer; in one of the stalls we found a sort of well with an iron grating over it, and in that we discovered seventeen bottles in some straw—I examined the bottles which had been left in the archway at Beasley's, and two of them had my name on them.

Cross-examined. Q. It is not uncommon for bottles with your labels to find their way to other houses? A. Not at all—Beasley has said throughout that he had been ill that morning, which kept him from coming down so soon as usual—he told the Magistrate he had taken castor-oil—the officer said to him, "We shall expect you to attend at Marlborough-street, at ten o'clock"—he said, "I will, if I can"—I did not give him into custody; the acting-inspector did—the officer took him on his own responsibility, by the direction of his superiors.

. . .

MR. BALLANTINE to MR. FOSTER. Q. Is Brunston still in your employ? A. He is not; Alderson is—we are bottled ale and porter-merchants—we wash up the old bottles returned from customers, and if short buy new ones—we occasionally buy old ones—we buy bottles with labels on them—we buy of professed dealers in bottles—we always know the persons of whom we buy them—Beasley is a professed dealer in bottles.

MR. BODKIN. Q. Have you ever bought bottles of the servants of persons? A. No; we discharged one servant and have kept the other—we thought he knew a great deal about the matter, and would give us information—he has been with us thirteen years.

COURT. Q. How do you pay carmen? A. By weekly wages—I never heard of any persons in our trade allowing perquisites of old bottles.

Both men found not guilty.

MESSRS. M.B. FOSTER AND SONS' ENTERTAINMENT TO THEIR EMPLOYES.

One of those pleasing events which occasionally occur to revive our faltering confidence in the progressive improvement of society took place on Saturday evening under the happiest auspices. The occasion was the celebration of the thirty-sixth anniversary of the foundation of the well-known firm of M.B. Foster and Sons, Ale and Beer Merchants, of Marylebone-road and Brook-street, and the event was the thirty-sixth annual entertainment given by that firm to its employés. Lord's Cricket-ground—or rather the commodious and well-appointed hostelry which forms an integral and eminently essential portion of that famous resort—was again selected by the Messrs. Foster for the scene of the festivities, and here every preparation had been made which their liberal and genial character could suggest to render the anniversary as pleasingly memorable as its predecessors.

[more detail on the evening's events . . . ]

Mr. COXON then gave "The Health of Messrs. Dodshon Foster and John Foster," which was received with vehement and long-sustained applause. This firm, he said, had now been in existence for something like forty years, and during that long period it had been notable alike for its honourable transactions and for its wonderful progress. It was now the largest of its class in the whole world. He had had great experience upon that point; and he also said confidently that there was no business in the world that was better managed. The Messrs. Foster were not only excellent men of business, but they had a wonderful faculty of making firm friends of all their customers.—(Hear, hear.) He begged leave to propose, therefore, "The Healths of Messrs. John and Dodshon Foster."—(Loud cheers.)

The toast having been enthusiastically drunk,

Mr. JOHN FOSTER, replying for himself and his brother, said he sincerely thanked Mr. Coxon for the very kind and flattering manner in which he had proposed their healths, and their old friends present for the cordiality with which they had drunk it. If it were true, as he had said, that they were the first house in the trade, they must remember that they were travelling, as it were, in an express train, and that therefore it behoved them to keep a good look out ahead and to take care that no other train on the same line ran into them.—(Cheers and laughter.) He regretted to say that that figure was not his own—(renewed laughter)—but it had an obvious and striking application to themselves that made it relevant. With the hearty service thus rendered to them—with Mr. Coxon's firm [Bass] brewing the best beer, and their preparing it for market in the best way—so long as they continued to be thus true to one another, there was every chance of their keeping the place assigned to them by Mr. Coxon.—(Cheers.)

[article continues for a few short paragraphs]

Though it is now, we believe, barely four years since Mr. John Harrison Foster gave the first impulse to the movement which primarily contemplated the systematised cultivation of cricket as a diversion for their leisure moments by the Licensed Victuallers of the metropolis, it has been taken up and continued with such energy by the members of the Trade, that the Surrey Club, which now numbers 200 members, can boast a capital team, and last season played 12 matches against opponents of repute, in 10 of which it came off victorious.

WITLEY.

FASHIONABLE MARRIAGE.—The residents of this village were early astir on Thursday last, in consequence of the marriage of Miss Julina Odlin, second daughter of the late Mr. Charles Odlin, formerly of Stamford, and Mr. John Harrison Foster, of Fernside, Witley. The sacred edifice was crowded fully half an hour before the time fixed for the ceremony, there not being even standing room in the aisles, even the members of the choir finding great difficulty in securing their seats. The bridegroom arrived shortly before eleven o'clock, accompanied by Mr. W. Foster as best man. The bride, who entered the church leaning on the arm of Mr. Richards Odlin, who subsequently gave her away, was received at the door by her six bridesmaids, viz., Miss S. Odlin, Miss J. Foster, Miss Harrison, Miss Evans, Miss L. Evans, and Miss H. Evans, the three first-named ladies carrying magnificent bouquets, whilst the three last named carried baskets of flowers consisting of rose buds, Japanese anemones, and primroses, each being attired in coral pink cashmere and white hats. The bride wore a dress of fawn-coloured satin, with bonnet to match, trimmed with orange blossoms, and carried in her hand a superb bouquet of flowers, consisting of gardinias, camellias, bouvardias, eucharis, rose buds, and white chrysanthemums. As the bride entered the choir sand the hymn "The voice that breathed or Eden," ably accompanied on the organ by Mr. Myles B. Foster, Psalm 128 being subsequently sung to the music by J. Turle. The Rev. J.B. Chandler (vicar) performed the ceremony, assisted by the Rev. A. Burd (formerly curate-in-charge) At the conclusion of the ceremony Mr. Myles B. Foster played Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" with great skill and effect, the wedding party proceeding to the vestry, the couple appending their signatures to the contract, the names of the witnesses thereto being—Lizette M. Odlin, William Foster, Julina Odlin (mother of the bride) Edmund Evans, Robert Foster, R. Odlin, and F.T. Foster. It was a lovely day, and as the happy couple left the church the pathway, which had been covered with matting, was strewn with flowers by the girls of the National Schools, duly marshalled by Sergeant Morris, whilst the boys, who lined the roadway, threw rice and heartily cheered the occupants of the carriages as they drove away. On leaving the church the wedding party proceeded to the residence of Mr. Edmund Evans, at Wormley Hill, where a recherche breakfast was provided, Messrs. Harvey and Son, of Godalming, being the caterers. There were also present, in addition to those already emntioned:—Mr. and Mrs. Birket Foster, Miss Birket Foster, Mrs. Myles Foster, Mr. Robert Foster, Mrs. Odlin, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, Mr. Ollard, Brs. Burd, Mr. and Mrs. Atchison, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Foster, Mr. A. King, and the Rev. H.T. Howes. In addition to the numerous and costly presents given to the bride, including one presented to her by the choir (of which she was a member), consisting of an antique writing-set, in brass, the bridegroom was (on the Tuesday evening previous) invited to the school-room, there to be presented with a testimonial—consisting of an illuminated address signed by two hundred inhabitants, originated by the Vicar, and ably assisted by Mr. W. Rothwell (churchwarden),—which in a situable [sic] speech was handed Mr. Foster by the Rev. J.B. Chandler, together with a very handsome clock, subscribed for at the same time. There was also a very handsome double reading lamp, presented by the playing members of the cricket club, together with an illuminated address, written by Mr. Gibbs, and framed by Mr. Milton—both gentlemen having given their services gratuitously—and read by Mr. Bowles, who zealously and readily obtained the necessary subscriptions. There was also, at the same time and place, a presentation made by Mr. Bowles, on behalf of the children attending the Witley, Greyswood, and Brook National Schools, consisting of six very superb volumes of books. The happy couple left Witley station at 1.40 p.m. for Oxford, en route for the North, to spend the honeymoon, the bride's travelling dress being composed of grey cashmere, with bonnet to match. The bells rang out a merry peal during the whole of the afternoon and evening, and the inmates of the Hambledon Workhouse were liberally regaled with roast beef, plum pudding, &c., at the expense of the bridegroom.

John's most notable endowment to All Saints Church was the significant refurbishment and extension works in 1888 and 1889. The works included removal of the organ from the west end of the nave and placing it in the north transept, re-fixing the north porch, extending the north transept with a boiler room and storage below, revising the heating, laying new flooring including mosaics (which is now largely covered by carpet), restoring some existing flooring, installing marble steps to the altar, moving some monuments, reseating the chancel with carved oak seating, reseating the nave and, removing the ceilings in the transepts and north chapel thus exposing the sixteenth century oak beams.  It was during these works that the medieval murals were discovered under layers of whitewash.

During the works of 1888/9, John donated three stained glass windows to the church. The first is the lancet window depicting Nathaniel in the north aisle in Walter's memory; his face features in the window. The second is the north-west window depicting Miriam in the north aisle in Edith's memory; her face features in the window.  The third window is in memory of his first wife, Mary, and is the east window in the chancel (above the altar). [ . . . ] John also donated twelve brass single tier chandeliers. 

After thorough restoration, the Parish Church of Witley was reopened by the Bishop of Winchester on Saturday afternoon. Before proceeding to give a short description of the work which has been accomplished, we cannot but refer to the handsome generosity of Mr. John Harrison Foster, of Fernside, at whose sole expense the restoration has been undertaken. Few parishes in Surrey can boas of so generous a benefactor, and in Witley the name of Mr. Foster will be handed down to posterity as a gentleman whose love for his Parish Church was so nobly manifested. The work has cost between four and five thousand pounds, and it is scarcely possible to find a fault with the manner in which the extensive alterations have been carried out.

but religion was still the most important part of his life; he attended church and gave readings. He was, according to the Reverend E J Seymour, a brilliant raconteur and entertainer as well as having a good singing voice. His connection with King Edward's School continued and he entertained the boys in the choir at his home at Christmas when they would sing carols.

THE oldest Old Scholar now living is John Harrison Foster, of Witley, near Godalming, in Surrey, whose portrait we publish. Mr. Foster was born on the 22nd of January, 1818, and he went to York School at Midsummer, 1826; he is, moreover, the only remaining link between the School as it was in the time of John Bright and the present day. In a delightful letter, giving us this information, he adds, "A stupid lad," but, when we consider the success of his life, this statement is certainly one which may give encouragement to some of us. He remembers vividly, he tells us in this same letter, "one of the older boys, Joe Mennell, first lieutenant to 'Billy' Simpson, who used to fetch his gun, and load it for him, when he shot rats in the Foss ditch out of the schoolroom windows during lessons." This practice, "lest one good custom should corrupt the world," has, we believe, been long since abandoned, but it must have afforded the pupils many a thrilling moment!

BUT Mr. Foster's recollections are not confined to such incidents as these. He tells us how, while he was at school, Jonathan Martin set fire to the Minster, and how, when the boys were taken to the Cathedral, as happened soon afterwards, he cut a piece of charcoal from one of the burnt beams. He recollects going to the Retreat in summer to play cricket, and in the winter to fields flooded by the overflow of the Foss, where the boys skated. The recollection, too, of the State entry of His Majesty George the Fourth's judges into the City, a function witnessed by the boys from Robert Waller's garden, still lives in his memory

The tolling of the Cathedral bell on Monday evening announced the death of the donor of the Cathedral organ in Peterborough Minster—Mr. John Harrison Foster, of Fernside, Witley, Surrey, and 242, Marylebone-road, London. Deceased was in his 88th year. The gift of the organ was due to a casual visit to the Cathedral. He was told that £70,000 had been spent on the restoration of the building, and it only now needed an organ. He forthwith offered to give the organ, to Dean Ingram. He offered £4000, and said if more was required it should be forthcoming. The organ cost £4000 and the case £400, for all of which Mr. Foster wrote a cheque. Mr. Foster's wife has a family connection with Peterborough. Almost every summer Mr. and Mrs. Foster have since the gift been in the habit of visiting Peterborough and hearing the organ at some of the services. The gift was made ten years ago.

The interment took place at Witley, near Godalming, on the 8th, of Mr. John Harrison Foster, of Fernside, Witley, a well-known philanthropist and a generous promoter of Christian work. The church was crowded with members of the family and friends, many of the latter coming from long distances. Some years ago Mr. Foster gave unsolicited the noble new organ in Peterborough Cathedral. He also contributed largely to the restoration of the west front. The Dean of Peterborough and Canon Collyns, late rector of Daventry, attended the funeral out of respect to the memory of the deceased.

Personal estate of the net value of £68,773 was left by Mr. John Harrison Foster, of Fernside, Witley, Surrey, lately chairman of Messrs. M.B. Foster and Sons (Limited), brewers and bottlers, of 242, Marylebone-road, N.W., who died on Nov. 4 last, aged eighty-seven years. Testator desired that six chairs formerly belonging to the Beefsteak Club, one of which was used by George IV., as Prince of Wales, should be sold at Christie's.

John Harrison Foster

ON November 4th, 1905, there passed to his reward the father of the Old York Scholars Association. John Harrison Foster was born of an old Quaker family at North Shields, on January 22nd, 1818. He was sent to school at York, when little more than 8 years old, and was there when the lunatic Jonathan Martin set fire to the Minster.

John Foster's first school days, if not all, were passed at the old school-house outside Walmgate Bar—where the master, "Billy Simpson," used to shoot rats in the "Foss Ditch" from the schoolroom window during lesson hours. He was also under the tutorship of John Ford, and although the former at any rate of these pedagogues would probably not have taken high rank among the teachers of to-day, there must have been something very sound in the methods of training of both to turn out such men as Mr. Foster and his elder brothers, his cousins Robert, John and Joseph Spence, John and Henry King, and the still more noted John Bright.

[ . . . ] In 1829 John Foster's parents settled in London, and in 1832 he was removed from school to enter his father's business, which in later years grew to be the very considerable firm of Messrs. M.B. Foster & Sons, Marylebone Road, London.

Mr. Foster's boyish recollections of London were surprisingly interesting: he knew it when there were green fields between Edgware Road and Hampstead, and he used to describe, with much vividness, the Coronation procession of King William IV and Queen Adelaide, which is father took him to see.

As soon as he reached the age of 21, Mr. Foster and his elder brother, Dodshon Foster (who was his partner in the business) left the Society of Friends, and were baptized into the Church of England, and from that time till his death, the English Church commanded his devoted affection. He became an ardent Church worker; from the first he taught in Sunday Schools, and formed the habit, probably from his Quaker training, of dedicating to God at least a tenth part of his income.

Mr. Foster lived in London until 1862, when he settled in the beautiful village of Witley, in Surrey, where his younger brother Birket Foster, the water colour painter, had gone to live a few years before.

Mr Foster found in the Vicar of Witley (the Rev. John Chandler, famous as a hymn writer and translator) a very good friend, and when he became a member of the old Surrey Church Association, he was brought into contact with Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, then Bishop of Winchester, for whom John Foster had an enthusiastic admiration.

At Witley, Mr. Foster devoted himself to good works; he began to beautify, as he was able, the ancient parish Church; he built a school, which was used for service on Sundays, and made another school suitable for the same, in outlying districts of the parish; erected the Witley Institute for working men in 1883; rebuilt most of his cottages in 1884-5; and thoroughly restored the fine old parish Church in 1888-9.

His gifts were not confined to Witley alone; he helped in the formation of a girls' Church School at Bramley, near Guildford, and was the anonymous donor of the fine organ which was placed in the restored Cathedral of Peterborough.

Mr. Foster was for many years a Governor of the Bethlem and Bridewell Hospitals, and took the liveliest interest in King Edward's School (belonging to the latter Charity) which removed to Witley from London about 40 years ago. As a Jubilee Memorial in 1887 he presented the handsome Gymnasium to the schools, and built the organ chamber to supplement the gift of an organ to the Chapel by another Governor. It was joy to him to welcome numbers of the boys to his home at Christmas time, when it was their custom to sing Carols.

John Foster was gifted with a very beautiful voice, which he never lost in extreme old age, and was often to be heard singing to himself a Tyneside ballad, or a Scotch song; but his reading can never be forgotten by those who heard it. As he read the Bible, either the lessons in Church, or at family prayers, all the beauty of his voice, his dramatic power, and the whole reverent soul of the man, were poured into the reading.

But to know Mr. Foster really, it was necessary to see him in his home. There was about his house an atmosphere of that old Quaker peace and unworldliness which startled modern men. He was a perfect host, utterly unselfish, with the tender, old-fashioned courtesy of manner, which to-day is almost gone. Affectionate, gentle, and considerate, he was also a brilliant raconteur, and his strong sense of humour emphasized his rare gift of "style" in telling a story.

To the end his brightness, like his devotion, remained undimmed. Troubles came to him in his later years; worries from business, and the sufferings which blindness and helplessness entail, but they never disturbed the perfect calm, which came from his faith in God.J.F.

Six chairs, belonging to the original Beef Steak Club, one of which was used by the Prince of Wales as president, are, by the will of the late Mr. John Harrison Foster, of Witley, Surrey, to be sold at Christie's.

At Witley (Surrey) parish church on Saturday a window was unveiled and dedicated to the memory of Mr. John Harrison Foster, a generous supporter of the church, who died last year. It was designed by Mr. Geoffrey Webb, R.A., and the cost has been defrayed by subscription.

THE widow of the late Mr. William Atchison, who for so many years lived at 29 Greville-road, Kilburn, died on Sunday last, aged 84, at 57 Carlton-mansions, Portsdown-road.

LONGFELLOW'S EVANGELINE, ILLUSTRATED EDITION.

Just ready, handsomely bound, 8vo., price 10s. 6d.,

EVANGELINE: a Tale of Acadie. By H.W. LONGFELLOW. Beautifully Illustrated with Forty-five Engravings on Wood, from Designs by JANE BENHAM, BIRKET FOSTER, and JOHN GILBERT.

David Bogue, Fleet-street.

Now Read, in a richly ornamental binding, imp. 8vo., 21s.,

MILTON'S L'ALLEGRO nd IL PENSEROSO, With Thirty Illustrations drawn and etched by BIRKET FOSTER. The Text printed in red.

David Bogue, Fleet-street.

One of the pleasantest and daintiest books of the season is "The Upper Rhine" described by Mr. Horace Mayhew, and illustrated by Mr. Birket Foster. The illustrations are better than the letterpress; but, taken together, they form a very handsome volume, which the future traveller in the Rhine land would do well to throw into his carpet-bag.

Mr. Birket Foster has seldom exhibited so large a picture as No. 104—"The Meet"—which was hung at the Water-colour Exhibition. It is a breezy landscape, with a hunting party in the foreground. The group of children at the left hand corner of the picture is admirably done, both with respect to colour and expression, while the purely landscape part of the picture is in Mr. Birket Foster's best style. No. 103—"The See-saw," and No. 108—"Girl and Sunflower"—will be remarked among the other pictures of Mr. Birket Foster.

The Meet

A SMALL, but choice collection of pictures and sketches, both in oil and water colours, is now being exhibited at Messrs. Elliott and Fry's Galleries, No. 55, Baker Street, Portman Square. Among these are a series of exquisite drawings by Mr. Birket Foster. It is not easy to speak too highly of the beauty and suggestiveness of such sketches as those of "Lucerne" and "Venice," though a lady could cover either of them with the palm of her hand.

Mr. Birket Foster again comes before us with some of his most perfect drawings in "Beauties of English Landscape" (Routledge). The publishers state the intention to be to give in a collected form specimens of the artist's works, which have already appeared in their gift-books. They are really worth having, and the passages of poetry have been well-selected.

IN ONE VOLUME.

BRITTANY: a Series of Thirty-five Sketches, By BIRKET FOSTER. The Drawings are reproduced with the greatest exactness by Messrs. Maclure and Macdonald's Autographic Process, and are printed on India Paper. Price £5 5s.

To be obtained only of the ARTIST,

The Hill, Witley, Surrey.

"Venice from the Guidecca" (24) by Mr. Birket Foster, is remarkable for showing the keen eye of the artist, and how well and how elaborately his fingers are able to interpret the result of his clear vision.

The indefatigable Mr Birket Foster exhibits a great variety of small landscapes and a larger "fruit stall," in which he has taken pre-Raphaelite trouble to reproduce the strawberry pips and count the peas in the pod.

MR BIRKET FOSTER AT HOME

Witley, near Godalming, "a land of pine-woods and copses, village-greens and heather-covered hills, with the most delicious old red or gray brick timbered cottages nestling among creeping roses," is George Eliot's, description, in her journal, of this part of Surrey, and you will readily endorse her statement. Within three minutes' walk of Witley railway station—which is, however, over a mile from the ancient and picturesque village—you arrive at the entrance gate of "The Hill." After passing a pretty lodge and traversing the carriage-drive, bordered with turf and dense shrubberies, you reach the quaint and spacious porch, which is in thorough harmony with the black and white timbered house, with its broad barge-boarded gables, projecting casements, tall chimneys set edgeways, and its "magpie" walls half-covered with trailing creepers and clustering roses. The air is loaded with the scent of flowers, while the cooing of doves, the humming of honey bees, and the rustling of the wind among the tree-tops suggest the influences which have doubtless helped to inspire Mr Forster's brush and pencil in his delineation of English landscape. On the solid oaken door, encrusted with iron-work ornamentation, being opened, you pass into the carpeted hall, panelled, like the whole interior of the house, with dark wood, efficiently relieved here by the blue and white china arranged on shelves. After traversing a long and arched corridor, hung with an indigo-coloured dado curtain, above which, on a flowered wall-paper, are suspended etchings after Mason's "Harvest Moon," Walker's "Marlow," and a couple of Gainsborough landscapes, you reach the drawing room. While awaiting your host, you cannot fail to be charmed with the comfort and elegance of this room. It is lighted by two grand oriel windows looking south and west, the deep embrasures being furnished with cushions of a russet tinted velvet, the prevailing material and colour of the upholstery of this and of the other sitting-rooms throughout the house. The ceiling is of a panelled oak, as is also the wainscoting, which is surmounted by a plain gold paper with a light frieze, on which arbutus foliage and berries are figured. On these walls, admirably adapted to show off paintings, there are eight water-colour landscapes by Turner arranged around "The Anxious Mother," a drawing by E.K. Johnson; some inimitable studies of still life by W. Hunt; "The Harem" by Lewis; some figure sketches by Millais; two groups of flowers by Holland; and several examples of John Linnel, Fred. Walker, and Samuel Palmer. By this time your host has arrived to welcome you. On expressing your admiration of the wooded scenery passed through on your journey down, an adjournment may possibly be suggested to the terrace outside, which is carried round two sides of the house, and is edged by a low parapet of open stonework, as a protection from the precipitous slopes of the closely cut turf clothing the steep sides of the hill on which Mr Foster's house is placed. That the formality of carpet-bedding on the terrace agreeably contrasts with the lawless yet graceful abandon of the creeper-covered façade of this "Cheshire" house, may possibly be your reflection as you pass along to the long low-roofed "loggia" confronting you at the end of the terrace, in which some tables suggest not unwonted al fresco reflections. For its wall Stacy Marks, R.A., painted a series of panels illustrative of the "Seven Ages of Man," but for better preservation these have been removed to a corridor within the house. Yielding to your natural wish to explore the grounds, your host leads the way down to the wire-enclosed lawn tennis ground, around which seats to view the game are ranged on grassy galleries; then, following winding paths down the hillside, studded with ornamental conifers of exception luxuriance, past borders of gay flowers. In the upper panes of the oriel window of the library, you will certainly notice the four painted medallions by Burne Jones, Madox Browne, and Rosetti, illustrating the sister arts under the legend of the honeymoon of King René. The walls are lined with books in handsome bindings, and above the mantelpiece hangs a portrait of Mrs. Birket Foster, in a reclining attitude, robed in some diaphanous material, and painted by W.Q. Orchardson, R.A. Passing through the morning room, the freize [sic] of which was designed by Mr Foster's brother-in-law, Mr J.D. Watson, and where a lonely paroquet in a huge cage bemoans a defunct mate, you come to one of the studios. Across it stands a mighty screen, on which are mounted the coloured designs by Burne Jones for St. Fridewide's window at Christ Church, Oxford. At either end of this room there is an arch-shaped frieze drawn by Mr J.D. Watson, representing "The Feat of the Peacock" and "Bringing in the Maypole" respectively. In the keystone of the mantelpiece are sculptured the arms of the Foster family; the crest, a dog of the chase and on the shield three hunting horns, with the motto, "Persevere," being allusions to the original occupation of the old Border family, Forrester. Having made a tour of the house, Mr Foster invites you lastly to his present painting room, from the window of which you look on a rough tangle of bracken and briar, affording constant and admirable studies for the composition of foreground in the work of the moment in hand. On the wall hang the framed diplomas constituting Mr Foster a member of the Water-Colour Society in 1866, and also a member of the Royal Academy of Berlin. Mr Birket Foster was born at North Shields in 1825, and not in 1812, as most biographical reference books assert. It was to Landel, the well-known wood-engraver, that Mr Foster, like many others of our eminent draughtsmen, owed his first instruction in art.—The World.

Admirers of Mr Birket Foster's delicate, if somewhat too mannered, water-colour drawings have a present opportunity of seeing that artist's work to great advantage at their galleries in Great Portland Street. Messrs Vokins have brought together some excellent typical examples. Mr Foster, however, is always most impressive when his drawings are viewed singly, though it is to his credit that as he is getting older he is becoming more varied in both theme and treatment.

Not far away, in Messrs. Dowdeswell's gallery, there is to be seen another kind of art, altogether at variance with the canons of the school of the impressionists. Here Mr. Birket Foster shows that his veteran hand has lost none of its delicacy and charm, and in his series of beautiful drawings of "Some places of Note in England" he maintains in triumphant contrast the old tradition that landscape need not be trivial or selected at random, and that Boldon and Haddon Hall, Oxford and Windsor, are finer subjects by far than the first uncultivated, meaningless field or dull stretch of uninteresting road. Truly, what possible loophole for criticism is there in those pretty water-colours, except, perhaps, that they are almost too pretty.

This year's issue of the Art Annual (the Christmas number of the Art Journal) will tell the story of the life and work of that popular painter, Mr. Birket Foster. Mr. Marcus B. Huish is the biographer. There will be some forty illustrations in the text, besides some steel-plates and an original etching of "The Little Shepherds."

Mr. Birket Foster, R.W.S., is represented by some of the most exquisite drawings ever seen in an exhibition. His "Fisherman's Island" (226) and "Isolo Bello, Lake Como" (227), for instance, represent his best style of twenty years ago. It is impossible to speak too highly of these exquisite drawings. His "Locarus" (220), "San Salute" (221), and "Luino" (222) have got all the glory and glow of nature about them. They are full of brightness, but without the slightest suspicion of spotiness.

Earlier in the week Mr. Birket Foster's series of minute water colour views of English cathedrals (six inches wide) were sold, at prices varying from 25 gs. to upwards of 40 gs. each, and another set representing Riviera and Italian lake scenery brought from 30 gs. to 50 gs., the chief purchasers being Messrs. Agnew, Mr. Vokins, Mr. McLean, and Messrs. Tooth.

PLACES OF INTEREST FOR SCOTLAND.

Mr. Birket Foster is an established favourite. That star, which in picture galleries signifies Hope carried to fruition, is placed on his works as soon and as frequently as on those by the most fashionable man of the moment. Yet Mr. Foster is not exactly fashionable as an artist. He appeals less to the connoisseur than to those whose sight is gratified by microscopic execution, and by well-set scenes of landscapes with foregrounds strengthened positively by rustic figure. To this style he has been consistently faithful for forty years. Watercolour drawings of the fifties could scarcely be distinguished from those of the nineties as seen even now at the Royal Watercolour Society—the society which kept Mr. Birket Foster awaiting his full membership for a shorter period than any other artist has been in probation, namely, two years. Possibly the two score drawings which Messrs. Tooth are showing in the Haymarket are as varied as Mr. Birket Foster's ever are. That is to say, there are pure landscapes, landscapes with cattle or rustic figure, landscapes with architecture as an important object, and scenes of town. Scale, treatment, and the mannerism of extreme patience never varies, nor can it be said that weather and lights are of of great range. Moreover, although these drawings are all of Scottish land, there is absence of typical Scottish illumination and atmosphere. But, after all, most people like fair weather and beautiful scenery, while the precise craftsmanship of Mr. Birket Foster has the same magnetism for many folk that drawings by Meissonier, J.T. Lewis, or William Hunt possess. "Oban," "Edinburgh from the Firth of Forth," "Ben Venue and Ellen's Isle," "Ben Venue and the Trossacks," "Alloway Kirk," and "Iona" are a few of the most significant.

The friends of Mr Birket Foster have been in great anxiety about his health. The news from Weybridge last week was most dispiriting—it was scarcely hoped he would get the better of the sharp attack which had prostrated him. The latest news is much more hopeful, and he seems well on the way to recovery.

DEATH OF MR BIRKET FOSTER.

A GREAT TYNESIDE ARTIST.

Native of North Shields.

The great water-colour artist, Mr Birket Foster, died last night at Braeside, Weybridge. Mr Foster was born at North Shields on February 4th, 1825. He came of an old Quaker family which has for generations held an honourable name this North-country, and whose descendants still hold high positions. Among these we may, at the outset, mention Dr Robert Spence Watson, his nephew, and Mr John Foster Spence, of Tynemouth, who was the second of eighteen children born to Mary, the daughter of Robert Foster, of Lancaster, grandfather of the artist, by marriage with Robert Spence, of Darley, in Yorkshire. Birket Foster was in direct lineage from Robert Foster, of Cold Hesledon, County Durham, who was born in the early half of the 17th century. The direct heads of the families lived successively at Hawthorne, Lancaster, and Hebblethwaite Hall. His mother was Ann King, the only daughter of Joseph and Mary King, of Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Mr Foster, at the age of sixteen, was placed with Mr Landells, the wood-engraver, by whose advice, after he had practiced engraving for a short time, he became a draughtsman. At the age of 21 he started on his own account, illustrated several children's books, and drew a great deal for the Illustrated London News. He illustrated Longfellow's "Evangeline," Beattie's "Minstrel" "Goldsmith's Poetical Works," and several other works of a similar kind; and had been employed on many of the better class of illustrated books that have issued from the press, especially a handsome volume devoted to English landscape, with descriptions from the pen of Mr Tom Taylor, published in 1863. He then resolved to follow a different branch of art, and began water-colour painting; and in 1860 he was elected a member of the Water-Colour Society. He was the most widely known, and perhaps the most popular of English landscape artists in water-colour.

[continues with reproducing in full a long letter from Foster which appeared in the Shields Daily Gazette on 19 October 1869]

In August, 1850, Mr Foster was married at the little Northumbrian village of Earsdon to Ann, the daughter of Robert and Mary Spence, and had three sons and two daughters of the marriage. His eldest son, Myles Birket, has followed the profession of music, and as organist of the Foundling Hospital, and the author of many services, holds high rank among his fellows. His second son, William, is well known as a water-colour artist and illustrator, especially of children's books, in which he has displayed a considerable fund of humour. Henry Foster, the third son, is in the firm of Messrs Henry Foster and Co, firebrick manufacturers, of Backworth, Northumberland. Mrs Foster died in 1859, and in 1864 the artist married again, the lady of his choice this time being a daughter of Mr Dawson Watson, of Sedbergh, and a sister of Mr J.D. Watson, also a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours.

MR. BIRKET FOSTER.

Mr. Birket Foster died on Monday night at Braeside, Weybridge, Surrey, at the age of seventy-four. Born at North Shields in 1825, his artistic career extended over something like sixty years, and the most considerable portion of this long period was devoted to work in water-colours. But Mr. Foster was brought up as a wood-engraver—having entered the work-room of Mr. Landels at the age of sixteen—and to the last there remained traces of his early training and his early avocation: attention to "line" and to balance of light and shade having been leading characteristics of his labour. A careful and well-equipped draughtsman, Mr. Foster engaged and deserved attention as an illustrator not only of children's books, but of many volumes of poems. His vision and his rendering of placid landscape and of rustic life were, to a remarkable degree, his own. Being an educated man, he could not, of course, affect indifference to the works of the Masters. Turner influenced him greatly; but that influence is seen not so much in the elaborately-wrought water-colours which, after a while, came to charm the somewhat naïve connoisseurship of the 'Sixties, as in the vignettes which glowed now upon the printed and now upon the painted page. Everywhere—whether in his least or in his most satisfactory work—Birket Foster was a master of Composition. As a colourist he was agreeable occasionally, though never great; and while to disparage him altogether would be to take but the very narrowest view of the functions of Art, it must be admitted that his touch was not seldom "niggling"—that in his search for finish, he habitually, thought not invariably, lacked freedom. As he himself had been influenced, so, in his time and turn, Birket Foster influenced others; and to labours to which he had undoubtedly given the first direction that they took, Frederick Walker, for instance, brought the eye of a greater colourist, and for all his minute finish, of a more powerful and penetrating observer of life. The influence, however—which there is no gainsaying—was creditable to both the men concerned in it. In 1860, Mr. Foster was elected to the membership of the Royal Water-colour Society—then the "Old" Society—and it was in the rooms in Pall-mall East that many of his more popular drawings obtained approval. Mr. Foster was established many years ago at a beautiful house in his favourite Surrey; and his work there influenced another distinguished artist, who is most of all at home in that district—Mrs. Allingham. Fashions come and go; and the lack of the masculine in Mr. Foster's art is felt, perhaps, notably nowadays; yet much is to be said for the symmetry and prettiness, the well-possessed knowledge, and the dexterous, if over-dainty, handwork, displayed in his innumerable designs. The funeral will take place on Saturday afternoon at Witley, a village between Guildford and Haslemere, where Mr. Foster resided for a number of years.

DEATH OF MR. BIRKET FOSTER.

We regret to announce the decease of Mr. Birket Foster, the popular watercolour painter, which occurred at Braeside, Weybridge, Surrey, on Monday night. Myles Birket Foster, to give his full name, was born at North Shields on Feb. 4, 1825. He was a member of an old Quaker family, which had for many generations held an honourable position in the North Country. Though the famous wood-engraver of those regions, Bewick, died in 1828, when Birket Foster was consequently but three years of age, his art is said, according to local tradition, to have exercised a considerable influence over the child, who, as a draughtsman, showed even more than the precocity which has been the rule rather than the exception with those who have selected art as a vocation. It had originally been intended to apprentice Birket Foster to a die-engraver, but unforeseen circumstances having rendered this arrangement abortive, he was first placed with Ebenezer Landells, a wood-engraver, and pupil of Bewick, who was, like himself, of North-Country origin. The illustrations for Punch were for the time being almost entirely produced in Landells' studio, and Foster himself remembered the day when his master, entering the engravers' workshop, exclaimed: Well, boys, we've fixed on the title; we're going to call it Punch." Birket Foster's first design in this paper appeared in the number of Sept. 5, 1841. He afterwards did much work for the Illustrated London News, and especially in connection with its annual almanack. A great boon to the youthful artist, whose tuition had necessarily been of the rough and ready order, was the protection of Jacob Bell, the friend of Landseer, and the donor of many popular pictures to the British section of the National Gallery. He was thus enabled to study closely many fine things then in the possession of this collector. In those early days—following the advice given by his master, Landells—the artist spent much of his spare time in the fields, copying faithfully every detail of the rustic scenes around him, and especially the trees and foreground plants. To this practice, and to his early training in wood-engraving on a small scale, may in a great measure be attributed his excessive love for minute stippling and tours de force in the rendering of local detail.

Birket Foster's first great success was achieved with the illustrations to Longfellow's "Evangeline," which were published in 1850, and at once won enthusiastic praise from the critics of light and leading of the day, and from the then proverbially hypercritical Athenæum in particular. He subsequently illustrated "The Minor Poems of Longfellow," "Hyperion," a book by Henry Mayhew on the Rhine, and—a labour of love to him—"Scott's Poems." The deceased artist's regular work in connection with book illustration came to an end in 1860. He supplied however, much later on—in 1871 and 1872—a series of highly-finished and very characteristic vignettes to Moxon's edition of Hood's poems, these being engraved on steel by the veteran William Miller, of Edinburgh. He had an important watercolour drawing in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1859. In 1860 he was unanimously elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours. From the interesting monograph on the artist published by Mr. Marcus B. Huish, we learn that her Majesty the Queen, visiting the exhibition according to her custom in those years, expressed a wish to purchase one of the drawings with which Birket Foster had secured his election, but that the purchaser—for it was already sold—refused to part with it. The name of the churlish person had the questionable courage to act thus ungraciously is not given. By no means Birket Foster's least claim to distinction is founded on the circumstance that he showed great kindness and extended unlimited hospitality to Frederick Walker, who passed a great part of his time, and did a good deal of his work, in Foster's charming country house. The early performances of the greater painter prove, moreover, that his senior exercised over him a considerable influence—not wholly, it must be owned, for good. Yet Walker, if he took, also gave back. Birket Foster's figure painting in rustic scenes reveals on occasion marked traces of Walker's style. An excursion was made by the now deceased artist with Frederick Walker and Mr. Orchardson to Venice in 1868. This was not, however, the class of scenery to inspire him, and we cannot greatly regret that the fifty drawings on Venetian themes made for the late Mr. Charles Seeley have never been seen in public. It would serve no useful purpose to give a list here of the innumerable drawings exhibited by the painter at the exhibitions of the Royal Watercolour Society. Its catalogues, from 1860 onwards, are the best witness to the unfailing industry of an artist always more popular with the general public than with the more restricted circle of art-lovers. Fourteen oil pictures were exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1868 and 1877, but after the latter date Foster would appear to have renounced the use of the nobler medium and to have restricted himself again to his favourite method of execution.

It would be uncandid to assert, even in such a moment as this, that Birket Foster, for all his popularity in certain widely-extended circles, occupies, or will occupy, a commanding place among the masters of British water-colour. That he departed from the technical processes used by such men s De Wint, Barret, Varley, Cotman, David Cox, and the giants of their time—to say nothing in this connection of Turner, who stands by himself—is rather to his credit than otherwise, though we may not be able unreservedly to accept the innovations introduced, or to applaud the results achieved. His style—the outcome of his training as a wood-engraver and vignettist—is, however, too small in its prettiness, his execution is too mechanical in its finish, his colour too dry, too timid, too little vibrant. The Nature he loved as a rule to depict is too much Nature clipped and cropped into a decent and well-ordered neatness, but thus robbed of the better part of her power to move—of the deeper note of pathos and the sovereign charm of mystery. All the same, it would be unfair not to point out that—accepting for the moment Birket Foster's peculiar standard—the smallness, not only in the dimensions and the execution, but also in conception, of his transcriptions of English scenery—he must be credited with certain qualities of completeness, sound finish, and accomplishment which are not those of the first comer. His composition was finely balanced and harmonious to the point, often, of conventionality; his interpretation of purely English scenery showed real feeling and a genuine appreciation of its soothing, home-like beauty. He knew how to convey the impression—in itself giving a certain sense of satisfaction—that he had spared no pains in the effort to realise what he had seen or conceived. When, stepping out of the narrow circle within which his popularity, even more than his will, confined him, Birket Foster painted such things as "The Falls of the Tummel" and "Rouen Cathedral," he revealed the possession of higher qualities than those which we have just noted as his, and stood firmly on a higher level. The last exhibition of the deceased artist's work was a very pretty one, made up by vignette-like drawings of remarkable finish, which was brought together quite recently at Messrs. Tooth's, in the Haymarket.

The funeral of the deceased painter will take place on Saturday afternoon, at Witley, a village between Guildford and Haslemere, where he resided for many years.

It is now announced that the funeral of Mr. Birket Foster will take place at Witley at 11.30 on Saturday morning. A train to convey friends to the funeral leaves Waterloo at 9.14.

FUNERAL OF MR. BIRKET FOSTER.—The funeral of the late Mr. Birket Foster took place on Saturday morning, when the body was interred in the family vault at Witley Cemetery, between Guildford and Haslemere. Mrs. Foster was buried in the same grave some years ago, and Mr. Birket Foster himself resided at Witley for many years. There was a very large attendance of old acquaintances, of friends of the family, and of artists. The chief mourners were the two sons (Mr. Miles Foster and Mr. Henry Foster), the daughter, and Mr. John Foster (brother). Among those who went down from London were Mr. James Foster, of Glasgow (nephew); Alderman King and Miss King, of Manchester (cousins); Mr. Joseph Foster, of Oxford, and Mrs. Henry Richardson (nephew and niece.; Mr. Waterlow, President of the Royal Water-colour Society; Mr. A. Hopkins, R.W.C.S.; Mr. S.J. Hodson, R.W.C.S.; and Mr. S. Evans,R.W.C.S.

[ . . . ] Many beautiful wreaths were sent from artistic friends, some of them bearing words of admiration for the beautiful works left by the deceased painter. The service was conducted by the Rev. S.E. Eddis, the Re. E.J. Seymour, and the Rev. Arthur Chandler. In the church the hymns selected were "Peace, perfect peace" and "On the Resurrection morning," and at the graveside the choir sang "Jesu, Lover of my soul."

• Herbert Minton Cundall (1906) Birket Foster, R. W. S (A & C Black)—with colour plates
• Herbert Minton Cundall (1910) Birket Foster, sixteen examples in colour of the artist's work (A. & C. Black)
• Frank Lewis (1973) Birket Foster (Leigh on Sea: Lewis)
• Jan Reynolds (1984) Birket Foster (London: Batsford)