Hubert John Foster (1855 - 1919)

Born 4 Oct 1855 in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Agatha (Tobin) Foster — married 16 Jan 1904 in Venice, Italy

Died 21 Mar 1919 at age 63 in Carlaminda via Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Hubert Foster is Notable.

Brigadier General Hubert John Foster was a British Army officer in the Anglo-Egyptian War, was seconded to the Canadian Army during the Second Boer War, and served as the Australian Army Chief of the General Staff during the First World War. He developed Australia's army officer tertiary training through the University of Sydney before the formation of Royal Military College Duntroon.

Hubert John Foster was born on the 4th of October 1855 at Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England, son of John Nathaniel Foster, coal and wine merchant, and his wife Frances Mary Wedd.^[1] Educated at Harrow, he entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1873 and on graduating two years later gained the academy's most coveted awards, the sword of honour for 'exemplary conduct' and the Pollock prize for 'the most distinguished cadet of the season'.

Foster was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1875. He was deployed to Cyprus in 1878, served in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and took part in the Battle of Tel el-Kebir and the occupation of Cairo. In 1886, he joined the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Ireland. He transferred to the military intelligence division of the War Office in 1890. In 1898 he was made Quartermaster General of the Canadian Forces and managed the deployment of Canada's troops for the Second Boer War. In April 1901 he resumed duty with the British Army, being posted to the district of Guernsey and Alderney in August as commanding royal engineer. In 1903 he was made British military attaché in Washington DC and Mexico City.

On 16th January 1904 he married Mary Agatha Gough, née Tobin at the British consulate, Venice, Italy. Their only child, son John Galway Foster, was born later that year.

Foster's career changed radically when he was offered and accepted the newly-created three-year appointment of director of military science at the University of Sydney from September 1906. The programme which he organised and directed was a three-year diploma course and began in March 1907. For nine nine years he lectured at the university and conducted special courses of instruction each year for permanent and militia officers of the Australian Military Forces, many of whom would hold senior commands and staff appointments during the First World War.

Apart from teaching, Foster contributed to journals and newspapers on military subjects and published four books and pamphlets:

• Organization: How Armies are Formed for War (London, 1911)
• Staff Work: Guide to Command and General Staff Duties with Small Forces of all Arms in the Field (London, 1912)
• War and the Empire: The Principles of Imperial Defence (London, 1914)
• The War in Europe: A Sketch of the Main Operations up to August 1915 (Melbourne, 1915)
  

  Hubert Foster is an Anzac who served in World War One.

The courses came to a stop in 1915 due to the war leaving Foster with no students. With his experience in the midst of the First World War, Foster was next appointed Chief of the General Staff of Australia's Military Forces (AMF) in January 1916 with temporary promotion to Brigadier General. From October 1917 to October 1918 he was director of military art at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. He was placed on the retired list, Australian Military Forces, on 19th October 1918 (his name also appears in 1912 on the British Army retired list).

Foster's work at the University of Sydney was highly praised by the chancellor, Sir Normand MacLaurin, and by Lieutenant General Sir James McCay and General Sir John Monash. Likewise his work as chief of the general staff had met the exacting demands of his minister, (Sir) George Pearce.

Sadly, he passed away aged 63 years on 21st March 1919 at Carlaminda, near Cooma, New South Wales, and was buried in Christ Church churchyard, Cooma with Anglican rites.^[2] He was survived by his wife.

After moving to Australia when their son was yet a toddler Hubert and Mary do not appear to have ever seen him again, leaving him in Britain in the care of a governess! (later Sir) John Galway Foster became a barrister, prominent in international justice during and after the Second World War, and a member of the British House of Commons for 29 years. John never married and there were no grandchildren.

Sources

1. ↑ UK FreeBMD Birth Index Dec qtr 1855, vol 3b, page 312
2. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #2891/1919

See also

• Perry, Warren. Foster, Hubert John (1855–1919). Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1981, accessed online 21 Jun 2018.
• Wikipedia profile: Hubert John Foster; accessed 4 Jun 2018.