Sir William FosterCIE (19 November 1863 – 11 May 1951) was a British
historiographer and civil servant who was Registrar and Superintendent of Records in the
India Office.[1] He was a member of the
Hakluyt Society and was "the foremost authority on the detailed history of early British relations with India and other countries in Asia."[2]
Biography
Foster was born on 19 November 1863, the son of a civil servant. He was educated in the Coopers' Company's (Grammar) School for Boys and
London University.[3] In 1882 he entered
India Office and continued working there until 1927.[3] He became Registrar and Superintendent of Records from 1907 to 1923 and Historiographer to the India Office from 1923 to 1927.[4] He served the
Hakluyt Society as Secretary (1893–1902) and President (1928–1945).[3]
A bibliography of Foster is provided by Anthony Farrington.[6]
The Register of Letters and of the Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies 1600-1619 with
Sir George Birdwood (1893)
Letters Received By The East India Company (1897)
The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to India 1615-19: As Narrated in his Journal and Correspondence 2 vols. (ed. 1899)
The English Factories in India, 1618-1669 : a Calendar of Documents in the India Office, British Museum and Public Record Office (1911) first of thirteen volumes, eleven of which are available at:
Internet Archive
A Guide to the India Office Records, 1600-1858 (1919)
Early Travels in India, 1583-1619 (1921)
The East India House: its History and Associations (1924)
John Company (1926)
A Supplementary Calendar of Documents in the India Office Relating to India or to Home Affairs of the East India Company 1600-1640 (1928)
Thomas Herbert: Travels in Persia 1627-1629 (ed. 1928)
A New Account of the East Indies 2 vols. with Alexander Hamilton (1930)
England's Quest of Eastern Trade (1933)
Also - * Winter, Edward, (signed as "W. F.") in Dictionary of National Biography, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., (1885-1900) in 63 vols.