Matthew Forster

Matthew Forster (1786 – 2 September 1869)[1] was a British Whig politician and merchant.

Matthew Forster
Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed
In office 1 July 1841 – 25 April 1853 Serving with John Stapleton (1852–1853) John Campbell Renton (1847–1852) Richard Hodgson (1841–1847)
Preceded by	William Holmes Richard Hodgson
Succeeded by	Dudley Marjoribanks John Forster
Personal details
Born	1786
Died	2 September 1869 (aged 83)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig

Forster was elected Whig MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed at the 1841 general election and held the seat until 1853 when he was unseated due to bribery and treating during the 1852 general election.[2] At the ensuing by-election, his son John Forster was elected as a Whig candidate.[3] Forster attempted to regain the seat at the 1857 general election but ranked bottom of the poll.[4]

Forster, "a wealthy and highly respected ship-owner and merchant" had mining interests, as a senior partner in Forster, Smith and Company, in both south County Durham and The Gambia.[3][5]

In 1840 Richard Robert Madden (the Special Commissioner of Inquiry into the British Settlements on the West Coast of Africa) reported that Forster was one of the London-based merchants who were actively (and illegally) helping the slave traders.[6] However, Forster managed to escape criminal prosecution. In 1841 there was a change of government, and the new government chose not to send the matter to the Queen's Bench, but to a House of Commons committee that Forster himself was part of.[6] Unsurprisingly, this committee rejected most of Madden's findings.[7]

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
2. "The Berwick Election and Mr. Richard Hodgson". Newcastle Guardian and Tyne Mercury. 30 April 1853. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. Wickham, Michael John (2002). "Electoral Politics in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, 1832–1885" (PDF). Durham E-Theses Online. Durham University. p. 44. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
4. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) |format= requires |url= (help) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
5. Perfect, David (2016). Historical Dictionary of The Gambia (Fifth ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 156. ISBN 9781442265226. Retrieved 8 April 2018 – via Google Books.
6. Boyd, Andrew (2005). "The Life and Times of R. R. Madden". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 20 (2): 150. doi:10.2307/29742754. ISSN 0488-0196. JSTOR 29742754.
7. Miller, Lucasta, author. (2019-03-05). L. E. L. : the lost life and scandalous death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the celebrated "female Byron". ISBN 9780375412783. OCLC 1040169641.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Mr Matthew Forster