Theodore P. Wilson, True to his Colours
“ It was a December evening; a dull fire burned within the dingy bars of William Foster’s parlour grate. William himself was at his club, but his wife and baby were at home: that poor mother, who knew nothing of a heavenly Father to whose loving wisdom she could intrust her child; the baby, a poor little sinful yet immortal being, to be brought up without one whisper from a mother’s tongue of a Saviour’s love. ”
Theodore P. Wilson, True to his Colours
“ Well, William Foster’s just been giving you his experience about the Bible, and I can say amen to all he’s been a-saying; I mean this, that the good book’s been doing for him and me just what he says. It’s been and made a changed man of him, there’s no doubt about that. He’s been a kind friend to me, and he’s been a kind friend to many as has often had nothing but hard words for him. I like to see a man live up to what he professes.“Perhaps you’ll say, ‘Jim, why don’t you set us an example?’ Well, I’m trying, and I hopes to do better by-and-by. But there’s no mistake about William. ”
Campbell Dodgson,
Dictionary of National Biography
(1901)
“ Foster had a large circle of friends, especially among artists; Frederick Walker [q. v.] was one of his most constant companions and guests at Witley, and exercised some influence upon his figure-painting. Foster died at Weybridge on 27 March 1899, and was buried on 1 April at Witley. He married, first, in 1850, his cousin Ann, daughter of Robert Spence of North Shields, by whom he had five children, the second of whom is the water-colour painter and illustrator, William Foster. His first wife died in 1859. ”
