Thomas Emerson Forster

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Thomas Emerson Forster
Thomas Emerson Forster bust in The Mining Institute Newcastle Upon Tyne
Born(1802-10-20)20 October 1802
Garrigill, Cumberland, England
Died7 March 1875(1875-03-07) (aged 72)
NationalityBritish
OccupationMining Engineer

Thomas Emerson Forster (20 October 1802 – 7 March 1875) was an eminent English mining engineer.

Early years

Thomas Emerson Forster was born on 20 October 1802 at

South Tyne
river in Cumberland. The district is called the Manor of Alston Moor. It was a mining area, with valuable lead mines and some small coal beds. Westgarth Forster, one of his father's cousins, published a book in 1816 called A section of the Strata from Cross Fell to Newcastle-on-Tyne. The family moved to Hebburn, near the mouth of the river Tyne, where Foster was educated. When he was fifteen he was apprenticed to Mr. Wade, one of the owners of Hebburn Colliery.[1]

Career

Thomas Forster learned from his relative, Westgarth Forster, and from

Durham and Sunderland Railway during the period when the old wooden wagon-ways were being replaced in the north of England. He became connected with various collieries including Belmont, Shincliffe, Shotton, Byers Green, and Scremerston. He was appointed Consulting Engineer to the Earl of Lonsdale, to Lord Boyne, and to other large mining property owners. He was associated with many of the most important mining works in the north of England.[1]

Forster became a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 16 February 1836.

In 1846 he moved to Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, where he spent the rest of his life.[1] Thomas Forster taught his relative

South Wales mining.[2]

He was President of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers from 1866 to 1869. In 1868 he was one of the local Commissioners of Inquiry into the Produce and profitable future Supply of Coal.[1]

Thomas Emerson Forster died at Ellison Place on 7 March 1875 at the age of 72.[1] His bust is displayed at the Neville Hall and Wood Memorial Hall (North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers) in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is one of two busts, the other being of John Buddle.[3] His son, George Baker Forster, also became a well-known mining engineer.[4]

References

Sources

  • "Death Of Mr. Geo. Baker Forster". Shields Daily Gazette. 19 January 1901. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  • "Mr. Thomas Emerson Forster". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. ICE. 1875. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  • "Neville Hall and Wood Memorial Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  • "Thomas Forster Brown". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 172 (1908): 313–314. 1 January 1908. . Retrieved 9 September 2014.