Lady Agnes Fo(r)ster (died 1484) was a wealthy

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

woman. She rebuilt Ludgate Prison for debtors. Her accounts are extant.

Life

Agnes was from Kent and she was married to

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

for twenty years. He had been

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

and he died a rich man and Agnes and his son William were his executors.Caroline M. Barron, ‘Forster , Agnes (d. 1484)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 22 May 2017
/ref> It has been said that Stephen at some time in his life spent time in Ludgate Prison. His widow, Agnes, renovated and extended Ludgate and the Debtor's Prison and the practice of making the debtors pay for their own food and lodging was abolished. Her gift was commemorated by a brass wall plaque, which read: Devout souls that pass this way, For Stephen Foster, late mayor, heartily pray; And Agnes, his spouse, to God consecrate, That of pity this house made, for Londoners in Ludgate; So that for lodging and water prisoners here nought pay, As their keepers shall answer at dreadful doomsday! She was lending hundreds of pounds to others as well as keeping two French knights. They had been captured and they were waiting a ransom to be paid before they could return. The knights were considered an asset and she gave them to her son Robert. However we know from accounts that he had to pay to have one buried in 1482. She was close to her son Robert and when she died in 1484 she chose to be buried close to him.

In literature

Agnes appears as a central character in

William Rowley William Rowley (c. 1585 – February 1626) was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626 in ...

's (15861626) play ''

A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed ''A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed'' is a Jacobean era stage play, often classified as a city comedy. Its authorship was traditionally attributed to William Rowley, though modern scholarship has questioned Rowley's sole authorship; Thomas Heyw ...

'', based on her life. In the book it said that Agnes met a man at the prison and paid off his debts and married him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Agnes 1484 deaths Year of birth unknown Prison reformers People from Kent