Richard Foster (14 September 1822–23 December 1910) was a well-to-do

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

merchant who spent considerable sums of his own money on sociable charitable purposes, such as enabling the building of new

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

churches in London. Three particularly complete examples can be found in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

, specifically: St Barnabas Walthamstow (1903; arch.

W.D. Caroe WD may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''The Walking Dead'' (TV series) * ''White Dwarf'' (magazine) Businesses and organizations Government agencies * Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division * War Department (United Kingdom) Oth ...

), St Michael and All Angels Walthamstow (1885; arch. J. M. Bignell).''Joseph Maltby Bignell alone in Walthamstow''
blog post by Andrew Pink (2017). Online resource accessed 18 July 2018 and St Saviour Walthamstow (1874; arch. T. F. Dolman).'Walthamstow: Churches'
in ''A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6'' (London: Victoria County History. 1973. 285-294. Online resource accessed 4 November 2017 (The church of St Oswald Walthamstow, also funded by Foster, no longer stands.) Foster was born in Stainforth,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

but moved to London to work in the family's financial business of Foster Brothers. He eventually became head of the firm, known then as Knowles and Foster. He was also a director of the London and River Plate Bank and of the Scottish Metropolitan Gas Company. He seems to have taken an active interest in social matters being a director of the London Labourers Dwelling Association (Society?) and a treasurer for the

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...

. Among other institutions he actively supported were:

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...

, the National Society, the National Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organization (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Part ...

, the East London Church Fund and the Bishop of St Alban's Fund. He died at Holmewood, his home in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

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and was buried in the parish churchyard there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Richard 1822 births 1910 deaths Philanthropists from London People from Chislehurst People associated with the London Hospital Medical College 19th-century British philanthropists