Harry Foster (politician)

Sir
Harry Foster
Pictured in Suffolk Celebrities, 1893
Member of Parliament
for Portsmouth Central
In office
29 October 1924 – 30 May 1929
Preceded byThomas Bramsdon
Succeeded byGlenvil Hall
Member of Parliament
for Lowestoft
In office
10 February 1910 – 19 December 1910
Preceded byEdward Beauchamp
Succeeded byEdward Beauchamp
In office
26 July 1892 – 24 October 1900
Preceded bySavile Crossley
Succeeded byFrancis Lucas
Personal details
Born
Harry Seymour Foster

(1855-04-29)29 April 1855
Died20 June 1938(1938-06-20) (aged 83)
Political partyConservative
SpouseAmy Sparks
Children6

Sir Harry Seymour Foster (29 April 1855 - 20 June 1938)[1] was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for three non-consecutive periods between 1892 and 1929.

Early life

He was the second son of Samuel Green Foster of London.

He was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk, and in the Commission of Lieutenancy for the City of London, where he was appointed a Sheriff of London for 1891. He was Consul-General of Persia from 1892 to 1923.[2]

Political career

He was elected at the 1892 general election as MP for the Lowestoft division of Suffolk. He was re-elected in 1895, but did not defend his seat at the general election in 1900. He stood again at the January 1910 election, regaining the seat from the Edward Beauchamp, the Liberal who had won it in 1906. Foster's return to the House of Commons was short, as Beauchamp retook the seat at the December 1910 election.[3]

After his defeat in 1910, Foster did not stand again until the 1924 general election, when he was selected as the Conservative candidate to replace Sir Thomas Bramsdon in Portsmouth Central. He won the seat, but stood down from Parliament at the 1929 general election.[4]

He was a party in Foster v Driscoll [1929] 1 KB 470 involving a contract for the supply of whisky to the US during the prohibition era. The English courts refused to enforce the contract (even though governed by and lawful under English law), as its performance was unlawful under the law of the place of intended performance.[5]

Personal life

He married Amy, the daughter of John Sparks of Eastbourne and had 3 sons and 3 daughters.[2]

References

  1. ^ "House of Commons constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons page. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  2. ^ a b Fox-Davies, arthur. Armorial families : a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour. p. 504.
  3. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 392. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  4. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 217. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)