St. John city
Senator
M.L.A.
FOSTER, Walter Edward (HON) (1874-1947)
Born. April 9, 1874, at St. Martins, N.B. Of Irish ancestry. Son of Edward H. Foster, Esq., and his wife Elizabeth Pattison, both residents of that place.
Educated at the St. John Public schools.
Located at St. John, N.B. in 1889, entering the service of the Bank of New Brunswick, and remained in its service until 1899. He then became a member of the firm of Vassie & Co. Ltd., Wholesale Dry Goods Merchants, St. John, N.B., and eventually became the President and Managing Director of that company. Vice-President of the St. John Board of Trade, 1906-1907. President of Foster & Rising Ltd., and insurance firm; Pres. Of the Young Liberals Club, 1908-1909. Took an active interest in military affairs, and served in the N.B. Regt. Can. Artillery, retiring with the rank of Captain in 1903; Director of the Diversified Standard Securities Ltd., 1926. Served as arbitrator and Chairman on conciliation boards and successfully adjusted difficulties in connection with the Port of St. John and its employees. Appointed in 1924 a member of the Canadian Advisory Board, St. Lawrence- Great Lakes Waterway, and was Chairman in 1927. Chairman of the St. John Commission in 1926; a member of Cliff Club, and Union Club, St. John, N.B.
Unsuccessfully contested St. John City for the House of Assembly at the G.E. of 1912, and St. John county at the G.E. of February 24, 1917. First elected to the House of Assembly as member for Victoria County, at the by-election held April 23, 1917, vice James Burgess, Esq. (q.v.) who had resigned, and sat that legislature until its dissolution in 1920. Re-elected, as member for St. John City, at the G.E. of October 9, 1920, and sat until the dissolution of the Legislature in 1925, when he retired from local politics.
In 1916, he was chosen leader of the Opposition Liberal Party in New Brunswick, which party was successful at the G.E. of February 24, 1917. He was called upon to form an Administration, and assumed the Premiership in the Executive Council of N.B. on April 14, 1917, which position he held until February 1, 1923, when he resigned from the Administration, but retained his seat in the house.
On September 26. 1925, he was sworn in a member of the Privy Council of Canada, and received the Portfolio of Secretary of State in the Administration of the Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King, but at the G.E. of Oct. 29, 1925, he unsuccessfully contested the constituency of St. John-Albert, and subsequently resigned his portfolio.
On December 25, 1923, he was called to the Senate of Canada, vice Sen. G.G. King, deceased, and sat as a member of that House until his decease. He was speaker of the Senate from January 1936 to May 16, 1940.
Married, January 18, 1990 to Miss Joan Mary Vassie, daughter of William Vassie, Esq., St. John, N.B. By this marriage there was a family of one son and three daughters.
He died November 14, 1947, at St. John, N.B., aged 73 years. Survived by his widow and three daughters. Buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, St. John, N.B.
In Politics: a Liberal In Religion: Church of England
FAMILY:
- Son: Walter William Vassie Foster (q.v.) – b. Jun 9, 1908 May 10, 1944 M.L.A. Kings Co.
- Dau: Joan Mary Vassie Foster – M.A.; P.H.D. Prin. Trafalgar School, Montreal
- Dau: Elizabeth Foster – Mar. John E. McCready (d. 1965), rothesay, N.B.
- Dau: Charlotte Vassie Foster – B.A., Montreal, P.Q. (umarried)
