WILLIAM HENRY FOSTER: HIS FAMILY AND LIFE IN VICTORIA FROM THE GOLDRUSH YEARS

Speaker: Tim Gatehouse, researcher into Victoria’s colonial era

William Henry Foster was 20 years old when he arrived in Melbourne in 1852 with a colourful past. He went on to become Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Goldfields 1854 and Chinese Protector 1855-1861 when he stood up for the rights of Chinese people in Ballarat, for example, requesting a Chinese wing to be built at the hospital. During this time he was Police Magistrate and Gold Warden for the Ballarat district, and Chairman of the Creswick Court. From 1862 he was Police Magistrate and Gold Warden at Omeo and then at Beechworth. He was a cousin of Charles Joseph La Trobe. Includes afternoon tea. All welcome. Bookings essential