W. J. Foster
William James Foster, M. I. and S.I.
1870 Born in Sedgley, Staffs.
Educated at the High School, Barrow-in-Furness.
1891 William Foster 44, blast furnace foreman, lived in Barrow in Furness with Ann Foster 42, William J Foster 21, blast furnace super., Florence A Foster 14, Mary J Foster 12, John E Foster 7, Blanche J Foster 5, Samuel Foster 70, weigh machine clerk[1]
1900 Blast furnace manager, of Darlaston, when he gained a patent on methods of introducing ingredients into blast furnaces making iron; by 1917 he had gained a further 6 patents on blast furnace design and operation
1902 A system for water-cooling blast furnace tuyeres, invented by W. J. Foster, was described to the Iron and Steel Institute by Horace Allen[2]
1902/4 Presented papers on blast furnace performance at the Iron and Steel Institute's meetings
1910 Represented the Staffordshire branch of the Iron and Steel Institute in a national meeting called to discuss whether to grade pig iron by fracture or by analysis of its content.
1911 William J Foster 41, iron manufacturer, employer, lived in Walsall with Mary Foster 42, Mamie Foster 17, William Foster 12, Doris Foster 10, Bernard Foster 8[3]
1921 Chairman of Thomas and Isaac Bradley when it was put into liquidation.
1922 An ironmaster[4]
By 1922 he was Past President Iron and Steel Institute, Chairman and Proprietor, Bradley and Foster, Ltd., Darlaston and Birmingham, and T. and. I. Bradley, Ltd., Bilston; Director, Edge Hill Light Railway and Banbury Ironstone Co
Author of numerous papers on Chemistry, Engineering, and Iron and Steel.
1922 Lived in Kenilworth. On the Committee of the British Cast-iron Research Association
1939 William J Foster, ironmaster and general chemist, temporarily retired, lived in Kenilworth with Mary A Foster[5]
1947 A William J Foster, aged 76, died in Warwick[6]