Vere Henry Louis Foster (or Lewis) (25 April 1819 – 21 December 1900) was an English educationist and philanthropist.

Life

Born in Copenhagen on 25 April 1819, he was the third son of Sir Augustus John Foster, 1st Baronet and his wife, Albinia Jane (died 28 May 1867), daughter of George Vere Hobart, and granddaughter of George Hobart, 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire. He was educated at Eton College, and matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, on 30 May 1838. Leaving Oxford without a degree, Foster joined the diplomatic service. From 1842 to 1843 he was attached to the diplomatic mission of

Sir Henry Ellis Sir Henry Ellis (29 November 177715 January 1869) was an English librarian and antiquarian, for a long period principal librarian at the British Museum. Early years Born in London, Henry Ellis was educated at the Mercers' School, and at Merch ...

in Rio de Janeiro, and from 1845 to 1847 to that of

Sir William Gore Ouseley ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. In 1847 Foster visited a family estate in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

, Ireland at the time of the Great Famine, with his eldest brother, Sir Frederick George Foster. They became involved in famine relief. In 1848 their father died, Vere Foster underwent a crisis in his life, and he came to concentrate on philanthropy in Ireland. Foster made three voyages to the United States as a steerage passenger in a ship of emigrants, finding the accommodation bad, and the treatment of emigrants exploitative. Through his cousin

Vere Hobart, Lord Hobart Vere Henry Hobart, Lord Hobart (8 December 1818 – 27 April 1875) was a British colonial administrator. Hobart was born in Welbourn, Lincolnshire to Augustus Hobart-Hampden, 6th Earl of Buckinghamshire and Mary Williams, daughter of Welsh barr ...

he was able to influence parliament, and the Passengers Act 1851. He also took practical steps to promote Irish emigration to the USA. Later, Foster took up the improvement of education in Ireland. This was a time of Catholic suspicion of the national education system introduced by

Richard Whately Richard Whately (1 February 1787 – 8 October 1863) was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. He was a leading Broad Churchman ...

. Foster contributed to the provision of better school accommodation and apparatus, and gave grants in aid of building several hundred new school-houses. In 1879, with the Land War in Ireland, Foster concentrated on promoting female emigration to the United States and the British colonies. Young women were assisted, numbering 18,000 in 1880–3. He was supported in his projects by both Catholic and Protestant clergy. Vere Foster plaque, Belfast - geograph

Foster died, unmarried, at Belfast on 21 December 1900. He was buried in Belfast City Cemetery.Belfast City Cemetery
belfastcity.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2020.

Works

Foster was known also for a series of copybooks widely used in the United Kingdom, designed for Irish pupils: * ''Elementary Drawing Copybooks'', 1868. * ''Copybooks'', 1870. * ''Drawing Copybooks'', 1870. * ''Advanced Water-colour Drawing'', 1872. * ''Public School Writing Copybooks'', 1881. * ''Simple Lessons in Watercolour'', 1883. * ''Drawing Books ... in Pencil and Watercolours'', 1884. * ''Painting for Beginners'', 1884. * ''Upright Writing Charts'', 1897. In 1898 he edited, as ''The Two Duchesses'', the family correspondence of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806) and

Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Elizabeth Christiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (13 May 1758 – 30 March 1824) was an English aristocrat and letter writer. She is best known as Lady Elizabeth Foster, the close friend of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Eliza ...

(1759–1824).

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Vere Henry Louis 1819 births 1900 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English philanthropists English educational theorists 19th-century British philanthropists Burials at Belfast City Cemetery Younger sons of baronets

Life

Works

Further reading

References