William Henry Foster Lancaster MP

Colonel William Henry Foster (c. 1848–1908) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. Born in Lancashire to William Foster and Ruth Briggs, he had a brother, Johnston Jonas Foster, and through him, was the uncle of Ethel Jane Foster and Gertrude Stansfeld Foster. Educated in Liverpool and abroad, Foster joined his family's textile business, John Foster and Son Ltd, becoming a director by 1842. The Black Dyke Mills, established by his grandfather, became prominent in worsted cloth production.

Foster served as High Sheriff of Lancashire (1891) and Deputy Lieutenant of Yorkshire (1892). In the military, he held the rank of Colonel in the militia until 1892. Elected MP for Lancaster in 1895, he faced an election petition with 117 charges, including bribery and treating voters, which were dismissed. He lost his seat in 1900 and ran again unsuccessfully in 1906.

Foster married Henrietta Warneford in 1879; they had six children, some of whom died young. He died on 27 March 1908, with his funeral attended by dignitaries from Lancashire and Yorkshire, including over 200 wreaths sent in tribute.