Benjamin Forster (7 August 1736 – 2 December 1805) was an English antiquary and clergyman.

Life

Forster was born in

Walbrook Walbrook is a Ward of the City of London and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a River Walbrook, river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the ...

, London on 7 August 1736. He was the third son of Thomas Forster, a descendant of the Forsters of Etherston and Bamborough in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, and his wife Dorothy, granddaughter of

Benjamin Furly Benjamin Furly (13 April 1636 – March 1714) was an English Quaker merchant and friend of John Locke. Life Furly was born at Colchester 13 April 1636, began life as a merchant there, and joined the early Quakers. In 1659–60 he assisted John St ...

, the friend and correspondent of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

. He was educated at Hertford school and at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, where he had as friends and fellow-students the antiquarians

Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reach ...

and Michael Tyson. He graduated as

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1757, becoming

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

and fellow of his college in 1760, and B.D. 1768. Having taken orders, ‘though he was never very orthodox,' he became in succession curate of

Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

and of Broomfield and Chignal Smeely in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

(1760), Lady Camden lecturer at

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

(1766), and rector of

Boconnoc Boconnoc () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately east of the town of Lostwithiel. According to the UK census 2011, 2011 census the parish had a population of 96. The parish is rural ...

, Broadoak, and Cherichayes in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

(1770). He died at

parsonage on 2 December 1805, his tomb being, by his orders, merely inscribed 'Fui.'

Works

Forster was somewhat eccentric, surrounding himself with pet animals, but he was a learned antiquary. His letters are preserved in John Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes'', ix. 648–50, and ''Literary Illustrations'', v. 280–90, while many of Richard Gough's letters to him are in a volume privately printed at

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

(1845–50) by his great-nephew,

Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster (9 November 1789 – 2 February 1860) was an English astronomer, physician, naturalist and philosopher. An early animal rights activist, he promoted vegetarianism and founded the Animals' Friend Society with Lewis ...

, entitled ''Epistolarium Forsterianum''. Among his other friends were the poets

William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to: Arts and entertainment *William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener *William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect *William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...

and

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Benjamin 1736 births 1805 deaths 18th-century English antiquarians 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English antiquarians 19th-century English Anglican priests Antiquarians from London Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge