C. W. Foster

Charles Wilmer Foster was born on 3 June 1866 in Dalton, Yorkshire, where his father Charles William Foster was the vicar. His mother Isabella Mary was the daughter of Francis Wilmer Watkins, a surgeon in the East India Company. Foster was educated at Rossall School and St John's College, Oxford (1884–87). He graduated from the later with a pass-grade BA in 1887. == Church of England priest ==

After studying at the Leeds Clergy School, He served as rural dean of Longoboby between 1922 and 1925. == Scholarship ==

Foster's interest in historical scholarship began early. His first book, a history of the Wilmer family, was published in 1888. His time at Grimsby brought him into contact with the diocesan records at Lincoln, while his time at Epworth was spent under Canon John Henry Overton, a noted historian of the church. He published his first volume of a series of calendars of Lincoln's probate records in 1902. After his appointment as vicar of Timberland, Foster began a project to preserve, sort and list the records of the diocese and cathedral of Lincoln. and secretary to the society. == Recognition and legacy ==

Foster was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1910 and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1919. In 1933, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Oxford. Foster died on 29 October 1935. As Frank Stenton wrote, "It is undoubtedly through the new materials which he made available to historians that Canon Foster contributed most to knowledge. But it should also be remembered that he saved innumerable documents from destruction or decay ... through him the records which illustrate [Lincolnshire's] past have become part of the fabric of English history". Kathleen Major also described him as a "pioneering archivist". == References ==