The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-04-10 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE 'OBSERVER.

DEATH OF MR. W. E. FORSTER.

We deeply regret to announce the death of Mr.
William Edward Forster, who, after a severe return
of his malady at the end of last week, expired on
Monday afternoon. It will be remembered that in
the autumn of 1885 he was forced to seek the warmer
clime of Torquay, and that he recently returned re-
invigorated, as it was believed, to his home in Eccleston-
square. The suddenness of his fatal illness and death
has come upon the public as a surprise; and none
will be astonished to learn that his faithful con-
stituents at Bradford, including men of all parties,
were astounded and profoundly grieved when a tele-
gram gave out the sad news. As late as the last
Friday before his lamented dem'se ho went out for a
drive, by the advice of Dr. Mackenzie. For some time
past, however, he had been extremely weak, and
the general hopefulness was not altogether shared
by the members of the family. On Saturday morn-
ing, on the occurrence of the sudden relap3e, his im-
mediate relatives were at once summoned. M.
Edward Arnold-Forster arrived at Eceleston square
the same evening from Burley, Yorkshire, and, with
the other members of the family, remained in con-
stant attendance until the end. Mr. Forster's death
occurred in the presence of Mrs. Forster, Miss Arnold-
Forster, Mr. and Mrs. Oakley Arnold-Forster, and
Mr. Edward Arnold Forster. The end was most
peaceful and quite painless. Among the numerous ex-
pressions of sympathy which reached the bereaved
family in the course of the day was a message from
her Majesty the Queen. Mr. Forster, who has been
a conspicuous figure in the political world for a
quarter of a century, was the son of Mr. William
Forster, a member of the Society of Friends, and
his mother was Miss Anna Buxton, the sister of
Thomas Fowell Brixton, the first baronet of that
name. William Edward was born on July 11,
1818, at Bradpole, in Dorsetshire, and educated at
Tottenham, where the sect to which his father
belonged had a school. After leaving that institution
he became a manufacturer at Bradford. Long was
he known to many as Foreter of Rawdon before he
became more widely renowned as Forster of Brad-
ford. In 1846-7 he was selected by the Friends to
distribute a fund which they had raised to mitigate
the awful sufferings of the Irish, upon whom had
fallen the dire affliction of famine; and ever since
then he has been prominent, in some way or other,
among public men. One of his early friends was
the present Marquis of Ripon, and he was inti-
mate with the able and philanthropic gentlemen
who constituted the school of Christian Socialists.
A thorough Liberal, he showed his broad and
generous nature by writing letters to the Leader
newspaper, which was always open to bold,
sincere, outspoken opinion. In 1850 Mr. Forster was
a candidate for Leeds, and was only defeated by the
narrow majority of 22. In 1861 a vacancy occurred
at Bradford, when Mr. Forster was returned without
opposition. He has sat continuously for the great
borough since that time, despite the attempts of an
intolerant and overbearing caucus to turn him out.
During the War of Secession in the United States he
laboured earnestly against the headstrong people who
endeavoured to make England assist the South.
When Lord Palmerston died, in the autumn of 1865,
Mr. Forster was appointed Under-Secretary of State
for the Colonies in Lord Russell's short-livel Admini-
stration, which was brought to an end in the summer
of 1866 by the efforts of Mr. Lowe, now Lord Sher-
brooke, the Lord Dunkellin of that day, and other
Whigs. The Derby-Disraeli Ministry and their
Reform Bills followed; and on the down-
fall of their Government, after the general election in
1868, Mr. Forster took office as Vice-President of the
Council, a post he held until a House of Commons
adverse to Mr. Gladstone was elected in 1874. Be-
fore that famous event, that is in 1870, Mr. Forster
had been sworn a Privy Councillor, and had been ad-
mitted to a teat in the Cabinet. It was during this
period that he gained celebrity by the skill and
courtesy he displayed in passing the Education Act of
1870 and the Ballot Act of 1872 through the House
of Commons. Astonished at the defeat he sustained
on an appeal to the country, Mr. Gladstone retired
from the leadership of the Liberal party. Who
should succeed him ? Only two names were men-
tioned—those of Lord Hartington and Mr. Forster.
Then it was that he put an end to the
rivalry by writing a letter stating that, as it was clear
to him that he should not receive general support, he
could not undertake the task. Lord Hartington, ac-
cordingly, was chosen by the party, and he admirably
fulfilled for six years a most difficult and onerous
duty in a singularly eventful time. In 1880, it will
be readily remembered, 3,1 r. Forster was appointed
Chief Secretary for Ireland, with a seat in the Cabinet.
The story of his labours and dangers must be fresh in
every mind. He stoutly battled with disaffection,
dishonesty, and outrage; but he had to quit office in
1882, because he did not concur in the release of Mr.
Parnell and his adherents from Kilmainham. Mr.
Forster married in 1850 Ja.ee Martha, the eldest
daughter of Dr. Thomas Arnold, of Rugby fame. He
was a Fellow of the Royal Society, having been
chosen in 1875, and in the same year he was elected
Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen.