William Wasbrough Foster

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William Wasbrough Foster as Chief Constable of the City of Vancouver (July 1, 1935)

William "Billy" Wasbrough Foster DSO CMG (born October 1, 1875 in Bristol , † December 2, 1954 in Vancouver ) was a politician, military and police officer of British origin in British Columbia . He also made a name for himself as a mountaineer. He is one of the Erstbesteigern of Canada's highest mountain, Mount Logan , and the 2,135 meter high Mount Colonel Foster was named after him.

Life

William Wasbrough Foster was born in Bristol in 1875 . From 1887 to 1889 he attended Wycliffe College in Stroud , Gloucestershire . In 1892, at the age of 17, he emigrated to Canada. There he worked as a technician and supervisor for the Canadian Pacific Railway in Revelstoke . In 1910 he became Deputy Minister of Public Works of the Province of British Columbia, and in 1913 an elected member of its legislative assembly . He also became president of the British Columbia Conservative Party .

In 1912 Arthur Oliver Wheeler , the founder of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC), baptized this in honor of Foster, who provided the funding , during the supposed - in fact, Mike Walsh did not reach the highest point of the mountain until 1968 - first ascent of a 2135 meter high mountain on Vancouver Island for an expedition of the ACC in the winter of 1911/1912 in the newly created Strathcona Provincial Park , on the name of Mount Colonel Foster. Foster could not take part in the expedition, which led by Wheeler's son Edward Oliver, among other things, to the first ascent of Elkhorn Mountain .

In 1913 Foster went on an expedition to Mount Robson with Konrad Kain and Albert MacCarthy . This is seen as one of two possible first ascents of the mountain. On July 31, 1913, they reached the summit of the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies at 3954 meters .

During World War I , Foster joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force . Among other things, he served four years in France , took part in the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Arras and was wounded several times, two of them seriously. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order twice and Mentioned five times in Despatches , received the Belgian War Cross and the French Croix de Guerre and is said to have rejected the Victoria Cross . Most recently he held the rank of brigadier . On his return to Canada, he was made an Honorary Colonel of the 15th Battalion of the Canadian Artillery. He was also President of the Royal Canadian Legion from 1938 to 1940, the Canadian National Parks Association and from 1920 to 1924 of the ACC.

In 1925 he again took part in an expedition with Albert MacCarthy. It led to the previously unclimbed Mount Logan. Canada's highest mountain measures 5959 meters, making it the second highest on its continent, one of the Seven Second Summits . Other expedition participants were Allen Carpé , Howard Frederick Lambart , Norman H. Read and Andrew Taylor . They reached the summit on June 23, 1925.

On January 3, 1935 Foster became the Chief of Police (Chief Constable) of the Vancouver Police Department appointed. Under his leadership, the local police force was fundamentally restructured. The reforms are described as successful, criminal elements have been pushed out, so that it was again safe to take to the streets at night.

His career as police chief was interrupted by World War II, to which he was drafted in 1939 at the age of almost 65. During his renewed service at the weapon he was promoted to major general.

Foster died in Vancouver on December 2, 1954. He left a wife, three sons and two daughters.

literature

  • Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . Rocky Mountain Books Ltd, 2000, ISBN 978-0-921102-59-5 , pp. 77, 96 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 2, 2011]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Lindsay Elms: William Wasbrough Foster. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010 ; accessed on May 3, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . 2000, p. 77 .
  3. ↑ Mount Colonel Foster. In: Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 3, 2011 .
  4. ^ Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . 2000, p. 260 .
  5. ^ Lindsay Elms: Albert H. (Mack) MacCarthy. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011 ; accessed on May 3, 2011 .
  6. ^ Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . 2000, p. 71 .
  7. ↑ 1925 Climb. Archived from the original on January 12, 2011 ; accessed on August 26, 2010 (English / French).
  8. ^ Chic Scott: Pushing the limits: the story of Canadian mountaineering . 2000, p. 96 ff .
personal data
SURNAME Foster, William Wasbrough
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Foster, Billy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Canadian climber, politician, military and police officer
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Bristol
DATE OF DEATH 2nd December 1954
Place of death Vancouver