William Edward Forster
1818–86
Liberal politician. Woolen-worsted manufacturer in Bradford from 1840. Advocated state-supported working-class education. Established a mill school, 1854. A member of the Alpine Club, 1859. MP for Bradford, 1861. Involved in the legislation for free compulsory elementary education; the resulting Act was known as ‘Forster’s Act’, 1870. Chief secretary for Ireland, 1880–2.
Source
ODNB.
Bibliography
ODNB: Oxford dictionary of national biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000. (Revised edition.) Edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. and index. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.
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