Thomas (Forster) Foster (1548 - 1612)

Born 10 Aug 1548 in Hunsden, Hertfordshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Susan (Forster) Foster — married 22 Jul 1575 in Iden, Sussex, England

Descendants

Died 18 May 1612 at age 63 in London, England

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Biography

Sir Thomas Forster, Knt of Hunsdon (1548 - 1612)^[1][2][3]

• b. 10 August 1548^[4][5]
• d. 18 May 1612 (age 63)^[4][6]
• bur. St. Mary's Church, Hunsdon, Hertfordshire^[6][7][8]

Parents

Thomas Forster (d.1571) and Margaret of Chelmsford, co. Essex^[1][3]

Marriage

Thomas married a woman with the same birth surname (LNAB) as his own, but from a different family. Her given name was Susan. She was the daughter of Thomas Forster of Iden, co. Sussex.

m. (1575) Susan (c.1551 - 03 Apr 1625), dau. of Thomas Forster of Iden, co. Sussex.^[1][7]

children

• Sir Robert Foster of Battle, co. Sussex; Chief Justice of the King’s Bench (b. c. 1589 – d. 1663) .^[9]

m. Ann Sackville

m. Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Edward Burton of Bourne, co. Sussex.^[10]

• Susan.^[11]

m. (c. 1598) Thomas Brooke of Whitchurch, co. Hants. (b. c. 1561 - d. 13 Sep 1612), son of Richard Brooke and Elizabeth, sis. & h. of John Twyne.^[11][12]

• George (bp. 08 Apr 1582 Aston, Hertford - d.y).^[13][14]
• Margaret (bp. 12 Jul 1585 - bur. 18 Aug 1585)^[13][15]
• Martha (dy)^[13]
• Mary

m. William Peacock of Finchley^[16]

• Thomas Forster of Hunsdon, esq.^[13]

m. (bef. 1612) Ann Baskerville

• Katherine^[13]

m. Francis Townley

Occupation

He joined the Inner Temple in 1571, and made Sergeant before Elizabeth died in 1603. He was knighted in 1604 and appointed Judge of Common Pleas in 1607. Sir Thomas was one of the first Governors of Charterhouse and was counsel to Queen Ann and Prince Henry.

• 07/ 11 Jul 1604: knighted at Whitehall[3]
• 24 Nov 1607 - 18 May 1612: Justice of the Court of Common Pleas^[1][4]

Property

• Nine Ashes[4]

"Sir Thomas Forster built this house (according to Clutterbuck), and probably built it before 1600, as his father's house (Swantons) was sold some time in Elizabeth's reign. From the parish register I judge that the Forsters left the parish about 1642, so I suppose that Peter Calvert, who owned Nine Ashes and died 1675, bought it about that time" (Gibbs, 1915, p. 26).[5]

Letter

This letter, dated 17 Apr 1590, was written by Sir John Forster of Bamborough to Thomas Forster of Hundson, later Judge. It tells us that Roger Forster, was 18 years old when he fled Northumberland.^[17]

Cousin Forster

After righte heartie commendations unto you, ye shal understand yt I have received your letter wherein you desire to know or yr pedigree, for that yr grandfather, as ye have learned descended out of the house of Etherstone, and to know whether he was one elder, second, or third, or forth brother, and wherefore he fled the countrie of Nothumberland, I assure you I can trowhlie satisfie you therein: for your grandfather, called Roger Foster, was my great uncle, and there were XIX brothers and he was the second brother.

His father was called Thomas Forster, and his mother's name was Featherstonehaugh; his eldest son was called Thomas Forster, who was my great-grandfather; and it happened that for of the said brethern at a hunbing, and riding homward through a town called Newham for the bitting of a greyhound they and a company of Karrs fell out, and there began bloodshed and feuds which continued until there was but one Karr of the greyhound living: during which time my grandfather and yours and another brother of theirs, called Nicholas Forster - mine being twenty years old, yrs 17 years and Nicholas, a child of 14, being a-hunting-were waited on by one of the Karrs and two of their allyance called Too an King, who sett upon the three brothers and too were slain there, and Karr fled insomuch that after the said slaughter my grandfather fled to Ridsdale in ye countie, because he was safe there and yours fled into south parts, of whom I never heard of since yt time till now ... at my house near Alnwick 17th Apr 1590.

Your loving cousin,

John Forster^[18]

Death

Thomas died 18 May 1612 at Clerkenwell and was buried in Hunsdon parish church on 20 May 1612.

"Hundson Parish Church, dedication unknown, but attributed to St. Dunstan, stands near Hunsdon House .. The church contains the following fittings of especial interest: the screen between the S. chapel and nave, an unusually elaborate example for the date (c. 1610): the Cary monument and that of Sir Thomas Forster, fine illustrations of the period (early 17th-century).

...

Monuments: on N. side of chancel, cusped and panelled wall recess, with inscription to Francis Povntz, 1528: on the same side, large canopied tomb, in classical style, with effigy of Sir Thomas Forster, judge of the Common Bench, 1612, in his judge's robes and cap; in front of the tomb, a richly worked wrought iron railing;^[19] in S. chapel, large mural monument, of classical design, with effigies of Sir John Cary and his wife, c. 1600."^[8]

Notes

Disputed Magna Charta ancestry

Magna Carta ancestry hinges on relation to Joan Elmeden, and her [maternal] descent from Magna Charta baron Saier Quincy, through the Umfraville line ... but the identity of her husband's family is unknown.[6][7]

"The Fosters of Etherstone, ... descended from Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester." (Bowie, 1899).[8]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Weis, F.L., Sheppard, W.L. & Beall, W.R. (1999). The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215: The Barons Named in the Magna Charta, 1215, and Some of Their Descendants who Settled in America During the Early Colonial Years, (5th ed, pp.144). Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing. Google Books.
2. ↑ England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} CAUTION Pierce, F.C. (1899). Foster Genealogy: Part I, (pp.48). W.B. Conkey Co. Google Books.
   see Category: Frederick Clifton Pierce Fraud
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Wikipedia: Justice of the Common Pleas
5. ↑ England & Wales Christening Records, 1530-1906. Ancestry.com, 2008. Genealogical Society of Utah. British Isles Vital Records Index, 2nd Edition. Salt Lake City, UT: Intellectual Reserve, 2002. (Note: b. 10 Aug 1548 Hertfordshire or 8 Oct 1548 Hunsdon, Hertfordshire. Baptism: Aug 1548 Hunsdon, Hertfordshire)
   Balch (1899), claims that Thos. Forster was born in 1569 (p. 6)
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Collins, A. (1720). The Baronettage of England, 2, p. 120 - 121). London: W. Taylor. Google Books. (see p. 120).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Cavanagh, H.D. (2014). Colonial Chesapeake Families British Origins and Descendants, (Vol.2, pp.20). Xlibris Corp. Google Books.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} "Hunsdon." An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Hertfordshire. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1910. 127-128. British History Online. Web. 27 June 2020. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/herts/pp127-128.
9. ↑ Wikipedia: Robert Foster (judge)
10. ↑ issue: Sir Thomas.

    (Wikipedia: Robert Foster (judge)).

11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Thrush, A. & Ferris, J.P. (2010). "Brooke, Thomas (c.1561-1612), of Whitchurch, Hants.," in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629. HOP. Web.
12. ↑ Bowie, W.W. (1899). "Brooke." The Bowies and their Kindred: A Genealogical and Biographical History, (pp. 351 - 352). Washington, Press of Cromwell Bros. Archive.org. eBook.[1] [2]
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4} The Roll of the Royal College Physicians of London, 1830
14. ↑ "George Foster, 08 Apr 1582." England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. FamilySearch: citing Aston, Hertford, England; FHL microfilm 991,345. Accessed 13 Feb 2016.
15. ↑ "Margaret Foster, 12 Jul 1585." England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. FamilySearch: citing Hunsdon, Hertford, England; FHL microfilm 0496822 IT 2. Accessed 13 Feb 2016.
16. ↑ Metcalfe, 1866
17. ↑ Tomlinson, W. W. (1897). Life in Northumberland during the sixteenth century, (Vol. 20, pp.118-120). Walter Scott. Google Books.
18. ↑ Sir John Forster of Bamborough
19. ↑ see Find A Grave: Memorial #40392729

• Balch, T.W. (1899). The Brooke family of Whitchurch, Hampshire, England; together with an account of Acting-governor Robert Brooke of Maryland and Colonel Ninian Beall of Maryland and some of their descendants. Google Books.

• Foster, J. (MDCCCLXXI). A Pedigree of the Forsters and Fosters of the North of England and Some of the Families Connected with them. FamilySearch. eBook.

• Gibbs, H.C. (1915). The parish registers of Hundson Co. Hertford, 1546-1837, with some account of the church and parrish, (pp. 26). London: St. Catherine Press in London. FamilySearch.org. eBook.[9]

• Metcalfe, W.C. (1866). "Forster of Hunsdon," in Vis. of Herts, 1572 & 1634, p.143. London. Google Books.

• Nichols, J. (1828). The progresses, processions, and magnificent festivities, of King James the First, his royal consort, family, and court: collected from original MSS., scarce pamphlets, corporation records, parochials registers ... (Vol. 1, pp. 442). AMS Press. Google Books.[10]

See Also...

• Lewis, M. (2019, November 27). "Sir Thomas Forster #188845, b. 10 August 1548, d. 18 May 1612." ORTNCA, citing family tree. Web.^{[citation needed]}

• Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, pp p 89, Forster & p 183, Forster.

• The Ancestry of Robert Brooke. 18 May 2018. The objective of this research session was to correct and document the ancestry of Robert Brooke [LYPP-QGB] on familysearch.org. Contributed to familysearch.org by John Hedman on 2 August 2020. He also posted that this family has already been extensively researched by a Certified Professional Researcher. Accessed 20 May. 2023.