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Authorised form of nameFoster; Henry (1796 - 1831); navigator
Dates1796 - 1831
NationalityBritish
Place of birthWoodplumpton, Lancashire, England
Date of birthAugust 1796
Place of deathChagres River, Panama
Date of death05 February 1831
DatesAndPlacesBurial:
On the bank of the River Chagres, between Palamatio Viejo and Palamatio Nueva, Panama
Research fieldGeophysics
ActivityCareer:
Entered Navy (1812); did surveying work in America; sailed with Basil Hall (FRS 1816) to South America (1820); astronomer to Parry's third voyage and in his attempt to reach the North Pole (1827); commanded Chanticleer (1828)
Medals and Awards
Copley Medal awarded 1827; at the same time a second Copley Medal was awarded to William Prout, 'For his paper, entitled, On the ultimate Composition of simple alimentary substances, with some preliminary remarks on the analysis of organized bodies in general'.
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election06/05/1824
RSActivityMedals and prizes:
Copley Medal 1827 'for his magnetic and other observations made during the Arctic expedition to Port Bowen'
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1830-1831 No 7 p 82
References:
G E Fogg, 'The Royal Society and the Antarctic' in NR 2000 vol 54 pp 85-98
Notes:
DSB incorrectly gives date of birth as Aug 1797; memorial in Woodplumpton parish church, near Preston gives death date as 8 Feb 1831 in his 34th year of age
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/72173709
CodeNA7230
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
MC/3/292Letter from James Hudson, 12 Hanover Square, to John David Roberton, [Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society]22 June 1843
IM/005837Foster, Captain HenryMarch 2000
NLB/57/370Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Richard Threlfall, FRS, KBE28 October 1919
NLB/57/454Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Miss Annie Foster; Pell View Wodplumpton, nr [near] Preston, Lancs [Lancashire]11 November 1919
EC/1824/06Foster, Henry: certificate of election to the Royal Society
DM/3/145Report by Foster's Scientific Voyage Committee1828
DM/3/149Notes suggesting that attention should be given on Captain Henry Foster's Voyage to the Southern Hemisphere to natural history1828
DM/3/146Foster's Scientific Voyage Committee, list of stations where magnetical observations might be made1828
DM/3/147Foster's Scientific Voyage Committee, rough draft of notes on other non-magnetical observations which Foster could undertake1828
DM/3/148'Should it be conversant to Captain Foster, the longitudes of the following points may be determined, in addition to those mentioned in the proposed track"1828
PT/18/17/2Plate, 'February 1825' by Henry FosterFebruary 1825
PT/18/17Plates, from 'Observations on the diurnal changes in the position of the horizontal needle, under a reduced directive power, at Port Bowen, 1825' by Lieut Henry Foster[1826]
PT/18/17/3Plate, 'March 1825' by Henry FosterMarch 1825
PT/18/17/1Plate, 'January 1825' by Henry FosterJanuary 1825
MC/1/317Letter from Samuel Hunter Christie, Royal Military Academy [Woolwich], to Dr. [Peter Mark] Roget, [Secretary of the Royal Society]11 July 1831
MC/1/319Letter from Sir John Barrow [Second Secretary to the Admiralty], Admiralty Office, to [Dr. Peter Mark Roget], Secretary of the Royal Society15 July 1831
MC/3Volume 3 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1839-1843
MC/1Volume 1 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1800-1831
AP/12/9Unpublished paper, 'Experiments and observations on the rotation of an iron plate 18 inches in diameter as affecting the magnetic needle suggested by S H [Samuel Hunter] Christie Esq of Woolwich' by Henry Foster[1825]
MA/159Magnetic and meteorological observations at various locations on a voyage of HMS Chanticleer, by Henry Foster and others1830
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