Sir Charles Forster Vanity Fair 28 March 1874

Sir Charles Forster, 1st Baronet (3 August 1815 – 26 July 1891) was an English Liberal politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1852 to 1891.

Biography

Forster was born at

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

, the only son of Charles Smith Forster of Lysways Hall,

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is north of Lichfield, southeast of Stafford, northeast of ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Emery. His father was a banker of Walsall and had been Member of Parliament for Walsall and

High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities as ...

. Forster was educated at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

and called to the bar at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1843. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire. Forster stood unsuccessfully for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in 1847, but in 1852, he was returned unopposed as MP for Walsall. He lived at Lysways Hall,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, and was created a baronet, of Lysways Hall, in March 1874. He remained member for Walsall until his death at the age of 75, in 1891. He made 210 contributions in the House of Commons. Forster supported

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

in 1875, writing to the Manchester-based ''

Women's Suffrage Journal The ''Women's Suffrage Journal'' was a magazine founded in England by Lydia Becker and Jessie Boucherett in 1870. It carried news of events affecting all areas of women's lives, and particularly focused on features that demonstrated the breadth ...

'' that he " egarded tas a measure of progress, and one which cannot logically be resisted." Forster married Frances Catherine Surtees of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1840. His son, Charles, succeeded to the baronetcy.

References

External links

* 1815 births 1891 deaths Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 Politicians from Worcester, England {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub