FORSTER, WILLIAM (fl. 1632), mathematician, was a pupil of William Oughtred [q. v.], and afterwards taught mathematics 'at the Red bull over against St. Clements churchyard with out Temple bar.' While staying with Oughtred at Albury, Surrey, during the long vacation of 1630, the latter showed him a horizontal instrument for delineating dials upon any kind of plane, and for working most questions which could be performed by the globe. This invention Oughtred had contrived for his private use thirty years before. Forster persuaded him to make it public, and was ultimately allowed to translate and publish his master's treatise on the subject as 'The Circles of Proportion and the Horizontall Instrvment. Both invented, and the vses of both written in Latine by Mr. W[illiam] O[ughtred]. Translated into English and set forth for the publique benefit by William Forster,' 4to, London, 1632 (another edition, 1639), which he dedicated to Sir Kenelm Digby. A revised edition of this book was published by Arthur Haughton, another disciple of Oughtred, 8vo, Oxford, 1660. Forster had his name affixed to an 'Arithmetick, explaining the grounds and principles of that Art, both in whole numbers and fractions,' 12mo, London, 1673 (new edition, by Henry Coley, 12mo, London, 1686). The former edition is adorned by a supposed portrait of Forster, which is really that of John Weever, the antiquary.
[Ward's Lives of the Gresham Professors, i. 88; Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, xxiii. 428; Granger's Biographical History of England (2nd edit), ii. 328.]
FORSTER, WILLIAM (1739–1808), the founder of a family of eminent musical instrument makers and publishers, known in the trade as 'Old Forster,' was the son of a maker of spinning-wheels and repairer and maker of violins in Cumberland. William made his way southwards as a cattle-drover, and reached London in 1759. At home he had been carefully taught music and the making of instruments, and the violins with which he supplied the shops were accepted and sold without difficulty. His talent obtained him permanent employment from Beck, a music-seller of Tower Hill, until Forster started a business of his own in Duke's Court, St. Martin's Lane, whence he removed about 1785 to No. 348 Strand. The tone of his violins is penetrating; great attention was paid to their varnish and finish, and even now the earlier 'Forsters,' especially the violoncellos and double basses, are considered of some value. As a publisher Forster became honourably known through his connection with Haydn. Orchestral and chamber music was not at that time popular in England, and the enterprise which introduced more than one hundred of Haydn's important works to this country deserved the success, it ultimately gained. Among letters published in 'The History of the Violin' are several of interest from Haydn, referring to the purchase of his compositions by the Forsters between 1781 and 1788. William Forster (1764-1824), son of the above William Forster, made instruments of a fair quality. Music-seller to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cumberland, he was dis- tinguished as 'Royal' Forster, although his father had enjoyed similar court, favours. William Forster (1788-1824), eldest son of the second William Forster, made no more than twelve or fifteen violins, &c., but occupied himself as violoncellist in theatre orchestras. Simon Andrew Forster (1801- 1870), the fourth son of the second William Forster, carried out the instructions of his father and his brother in Frith Street, and later in Macclesfield Street, Soho. He was part author of the 'History of the Violin' (1864), from which some of the details in this article have been taken.
[Grove's Dict. of Music, i. 555; Brown's Biog. Dict. p. 252; Sandys and Forster's Hist. of the Violin, 1864, p. 290, &c.]
FORSTER, WILLIAM (1784–1854), minister of the Society of Friends, was born at Tottenham, near London, 23 March 1784. His father, who was a land agent and surveyor, and his mother were pious members of the Society of Friends, and they took much pains in bringing up their children. From his earliest years William, their second son, manifested a profoundly spiritual disposition, and in after years would say that 'in looking back on his earliest religious experience he could not remember a time when he was not sensible of the work of the Holy Spirit in his heart.' After his education was completed he declined to follow his father's profession, and, having taken part in quaker meetings for two years, was recognised as a minister in 1805, in his twenty-second year. For several years he was an itinerant minister, and visited many parts of England and Scotland. For a time he settled at Tottenham. In October 1816 he married, at Shaftesbury, Anna Buxton, a daughter of Mr. Buxton of Earlham, Norfolk, and sister of Elizabeth Fry [q. v.] and Joseph John Gurney [q. v.] Anna Buxton, whose family were residing at Weymouth, was a handsome girl of fascinating manners. She had attracted the interest of George III, to whom Weymouth was a favourite resort, and
