Memorial at Woodplumpton to Commander Henry Foster RN d. 1831
Location
St Anne's Church, Woodplumpton, Lancashire, England
Transcript
'SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF / HENRY FOSTER, R.N., F.R.S. / DISTINGUISHED AS WELL FOR SUPERIORITY OF INTELLECT AS URBANITY OF/MANNERS, BY A ZEALOUS AND FIRM DISCHARGE OF DUTY / HE GAINED THE CONFIDENCE AND REGARD OF HIS OF HIS BROTHER OFFICERS / AND BY A SUCCESSFUL PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE / ATTRACTED THE NOTICE OF MEN OF SCIENCE / FOR HIS PHILOSOPHICAL EXPERIMENTS MADE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS / THE COPLEY MEDAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY / WAS PRESENTED TO HIM ON 30TH NOVEMBER, 1827, / WHEN THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL OF ENGLAND WITH AN ALACRITY / HONOURABLE TO HIMSELF AND TO THE SUBJECT OF HIS PATRONAGE / INSTANTLY PROMOTED HIM TO THE RANK OF COMMANDER. / IN THE YEAR FOLLOWING HE SAILED ON A VOYAGE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. / HE HAD COMPLETED HIS ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS AT PANAMA, / AND ALL THINGS HAD PROSPERED IN HIS HAND; WHEN, PROCEEDING TO/HIS SHIP AND ANTICIPATING A SPEEDY RETURN TO HIS NATIVE SHORE, HE / FELL FROM A CANOE AND IN A MOMENT WAS LOST TO HIS COUNTRY / AND HIS FRIENDS. / HIS BODY SHROUDED IN THE BRITISH FLAG WAS INTERRED NEAR THE FATAL / SPOT ON THE BANK OF THE RIVER CHAGRE IN THE GULPH [sic] OF MEXICO / ON THE 8TH FEBRUARY, 1831, AND IN THE 34TH YEAR OF HIS AGE / THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY SEVERAL OF HIS COMPANIONS AND FRIENDS / AS A MEMORIAL OF THE HIGH ESTEEM THEY ENTERTAINED FOR HIS / CHARACTER, AND OF THE DEEP REGARD THEY FELT FOR HIS / UNTIMELY DEATH. / HE WAS THE SON OF THE REV. HENRY FOSTER, / INCUMBENT OF THIS CHAPELRY.' [ON BASE] 'IN MEMORY / OF THE REVEREND / HENRY FOSTER LATE INCUMBENT / OF THIS CHAPELRY UPWARDS OF 33 YEARS / DIED AUGUST 7TH 1844 AGED 84 YEARS'
Details
Type: Wall monument
Materials: Marble
People
Age: 34
Date of Death: 2/1831
Cause of Death: Maritime accident
Rank / Occupation: Commander RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Bibliography: Editors: Ann Savours and Anita McConnell 'Journal Kept by Midshipman Joseph Henry Kay during the Voyage of HMS Chanticleer, 1828-1831', 'Four Travel Journals: The Americas, Antarctica and Africa, 1775-1874.' (The Hakluyt Society, 2007) p.266.
Recorder: Peter Sheppard, Ann Shirley 1999