Peter Le Neve Foster (1809–1879) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and mathematician. He is known as an innovative secretary of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

, and a pioneer photographer of the Calotype Club.

Life

Born 17 August 1809, he was the son of Peter le Neve Foster of

Lenwade Lenwade is a village in the civil parish of Great Witchingham in the English county of Norfolk. Lenwade is located south-east of Fakenham and north-west of Norwich, at the confluence of the River Ainse and River Wensum. History Lenwade's n ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. He was educated under Dr.

Edward Valpy Edward Valpy (1764–1832) was an English cleric, classical scholar and schoolteacher. Life Valpy, the fourth son of Richard Valpy of St. John's, Jersey, by his wife Catherine, daughter of John Chevalier, was born at Reading. He was educated at T ...

Norwich grammar school Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private selective day school in the cathedral close, close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the List of the oldest schools in the ...

. He went on to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, graduating in the

mathematical tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...

in 1830, and being elected Fellow of his college. In 1836 Foster was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

, and practised as a conveyancer. In 1853 he became secretary to the Society of Arts, as successor to

George Grove Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession ...

, a post he held for the rest of his life. With

Henry Cole Henry Cole may refer to: *Sir Henry Cole (inventor) Sir Henry Cole FRSA (15 July 1808 – 15 April 1882) was an English civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce, education and the arts in the 19th century in the ...

Charles Wentworth Dilke Charles Wentworth Dilke (1789–1864) was an English liberal critic and writer on literature. Professional life He served for many years in the Navy Pay-Office, on retiring from which in 1830 he devoted himself to literary pursuits. Lite ...

, and others, he was heavily involved with the organisation of the

Great Exhibition of 1851 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

and its successor

1862 International Exhibition The International Exhibition of 1862, officially the London International Exhibition of Industry and Art, also known as the Great London Exposition, was a world's fair held from 1 May to 1 November 1862 in South Kensington, London, England. Th ...

. He was also connected with work on several of the earlier exhibitions abroad. Foster was an early amateur photographer, and was one of the founders of the

Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

. With

Roger Fenton Roger Fenton (28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers. Fenton was born into a Lancashire merchant family. After graduating from London with an arts degree, he became interested i ...

he organised in 1852 the first photography exhibition held by the Society of Arts. He served for 13 years as secretary of the mechanical science section of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...

. He served as President of the

Quekett Microscopical Club The Quekett Microscopical Club is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. Its members come from all over the world, and include both amateur and professional microscopists. It is a registered charity and not-for-profit publisher, with t ...

in 1869. He died at

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

, Surrey, 21 February 1879.

Works

Foster was a contributor to scientific and technical journals; in the ''Journal'' of the Society of Arts he wrote a good deal, but generally anonymously. He read two papers before the Society, one on "Aluminium" (1859), and the other on the "Electric Loom" (1860).

Peter Le Neve Foster Lecture

The Peter Le Neve Foster Lectures is an annual lecture series for the Royal Society of Arts, given since 1938. It was founded with money left by two of Foster's children, Reginald and Mary.''Journal of the Royal Society of Arts'', Vol. 86, No. 4470 (22 July 1938), p. 890. Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce *1938

A. E. W. Mason Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (7 May 1865 – 22 November 1948) was an English author and Liberal Party Member of Parliament. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel of courage and cowardice in wartime, ''The Four Feathers'', and is also known a ...

, ''The Artistic Future of the Films'' *1939 Philip Guedalla, ''The Method of Biography'', *1942

Viscount Bennett Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett (July 3, 1870 – June 26, 1947) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935. Bennett was born in Hop ...

, ''Empire Relations'' *1943 C. H. Desch, ''Magnesium'' *1944 Howard Walter Florey, ''Penicillin'' *1945

James Agate James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He late ...

, ''A Moment in the History of the English Theatre'' *1948

Dilys Powell Elizabeth Dilys Powell (20 July 1901 – 3 June 1995) was a British film critic and travel writer who contributed to ''The Sunday Times'' for more than 50 years. Powell was known for her receptiveness to cultural change in the cinema and coin ...

, ''The Development of the Film in Educational and Social Life'' *1950 (January) W. L. Andrews *1950 (December) A. C. Menzies, ''Modern Trends in Spectroscopy'' *1953 I. D. Wratten, ''A Century of Photography'' *1956 C. G. Mayer, ''Electronic Photography'' *1957 (January) A. R. N. Roberts, ''The Life and Work of W. R. Lethaby'' *1957 (November)

Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan Thomas Godfrey Polson Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan, (19 December 1895 – 30 November 1977), had a distinguished military career in the British Army and was Governor of Tasmania from 1959 to 1963. The Boy Scouts Association appointed him as its ...

, ''Baden-Powell and the Boy Scouts'' *1959

Sylvia Townsend Warner Sylvia Nora Townsend Warner (6 December 1893 – 1 May 1978) was an English novelist, poet and musicologist, known for works such as '' Lolly Willowes'', '' The Corner That Held Them'', and '' Kingdoms of Elfin''. Her paternal grandfather, The ...

, "Women as Writers" *1962 Henry George Miller, ''Priorities in Medicine'' *1964

Leon Radzinowicz Sir Leon Radzinowicz, (15 August 1906 – 29 December 1999) was a criminologist and academic. He was the founding director of the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. Early life Radzinowicz was born on ...

, ''The Criminal in Society'' *1993 Sir Richard Luce, ''The role of the amateur in British arts''''RSA Journal'', Vol. 141, No. 5439 (May 1993). Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Peter le Neve 1809 births 1879 deaths English barristers 19th-century English photographers Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Photographers from Norfolk 19th-century English lawyers People from Broadland (district)