1834 Foster met with a number of industrialists to found the Stourbridge and Kidderminster Banking Co. James Foster became the Chairman of the bank, an office he held until 1850. The first branch of the bank was sited at Park House just off Stourbridge High Street, which had been Foster's previous home. IN 1844, James Foster was listed as being on the Committee of Management of the company that proposed to build the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. A brief profile of Foster in Griffiths' Guide to the Iron Trade of Great Britain, describes him as: "a most able and far seeing man, divested entirely of consequential airs and assumed superiority, endowed in a very remarkable degree with common sense; being afflicted with deafness, his manner sometimes appeared brusque, owing to his prompt and decisive answers. He was a decided Liberal in politics, and a truly good, kind-hearted gentleman". After his death, aged 66, which occurred on 12 April 1853, it was reported that one thousand of his workers paraded after the funeral cortege. He was interred in the family vault at St Mary's, Oldswinford. He was unmarried, and his iron business and estates were inherited by his nephew, William Orme Foster. Businesses of James Foster John Bradley & Co. Founded by his half brother, John Bradley, Foster was a partner from 1807 and sole owner from 1836. Foster, Rastrick & Co. The partnership with John Urpeth Rastrick was formed in 1819 and dissolved in 1831 with assets being absorbed by John Bradley & Co. Thomas Jukes Collier & Co. Partnership formed in 1818 and lasted until 1837. Madley Court. Bought by Foster in 1828 who developed mines and furnaces on the site. Chillington Coal & Iron Co. Partnership formed in 1825 with George Jones, who was the active partner. Stourbridge and Kidderminster Banking Co. Foster was Chairman from 1834 until 1850. References Sources Senate House Library, University of London, John Bradley & Co (Stourbridge) Ltd., Ironfounders . Retrieved 22 April 2005. Collins, Paul (ed.); (1989) Stourbridge and its Historic Locomotives, Dudley, Dudley Leisure Services. Mutton, Norman, 'The Foster Family: a study of a Midland industrial dynasty 1786–1899' (thesis 1973: copy in Dudley Archives and Local History Centre). External links 1786 births 1853 deaths People from Stourbridge English ironmasters British businesspeople in the coal industry High Sheriffs of Worcestershire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies