Benjamin Meggot Forster (16 January 1764 – 8 March 1829) was an English botanist and mycologist who published ''An Introduction to the Knowledge of Fungusses'' in 1820.

Life

Forster was the second son of

Edward Forster the elder Edward Forster the Elder (11 February 1730 – 20 April 1812) was an English banker and antiquary. Life Forster was the son of Thomas Forster, and brother of Benjamin Forster, born on 11 February 1730. He was educated at Felsted School. He th ...

and his wife Susanna, and was born in

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

, London, on 16 January 1764. He was educated with his brothers

Edward Forster the younger Edward Forster the Younger (12 October 1765 – 23 February 1849) was an English banker and botanist. Life He was born at Wood Street, Walthamstow, 12 October 1765, the third and youngest son of Edward Forster the elder and his wife Susanna; ...

and Thomas Furly Forster and sister, Susanna Dorothy Forster at

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 ...

, and became a member of the firm of Edward Forster & Sons, Russia merchants, but took little interest in business. Forster never married, living with his father and mother till their death, when he took a cottage called Scotts, at Hale End, Walthamstow. There he died 8 March 1829.

Works

Forster was a student of science, especially botany and electricity. He executed many drawings of fungi, communicated various species to James Sowerby, and in 1820 published, with initials only, ''An Introduction to the Knowledge of Fungusses'', pp. 20, with two plates. He contributed articles to the '' Gentleman's Magazine'' under various signatures, and is credited with eight scientific contributions to the '' Philosophical Magazine'' in the Royal Society's ''Catalogue''. They deal with fungi, the electric column, and atmospheric phenomena. He invented the sliding portfolio, the atmospherical electroscope, and an orrery of

perpetual motion Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...

(a failure).

Activism

Forster joined in 1791 the committee of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, as did his brother Thomas Furly Forster. He was a committee member of the Peace Society. Around 1802 Forster was a founder of the Society for the Suppression of Climbing Chimney-Sweepers (properly from 1803 the SSNCB, Society for Superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys), and took an interest in the inventions in the field of chimney sweeping, by George Smart and Joseph Glass. In 1819 he reported to its committee on the case of two small girls as sweeps, working at Windsor Castle. In fact four other members of the committee were from the Forster family. He framed the Child Stealing Act 1814. It was introduced as a bill in parliament on 17 May 1814, by William Smith. He also joined societies for diffusing knowledge about capital punishments, for affording refuge to the destitute, and for repressing

cruelty to animals Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suf ...

, being conscientiously opposed to field sports.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Benjamin Meggot 1764 births 1829 deaths 18th-century British botanists 18th-century English writers 19th-century British botanists 19th-century English writers Botanical illustrators British pacifists English abolitionists English botanists English mycologists Scientists from London