Small image of a man handing a book to a women across a counter.

At the Circulating Library

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837–1901

Author: Catherine Foster

Author: Catherine Foster (1803–1873)

Alternate Name(s): Hamilton (maiden name); Mrs. W. Foster (familiar name)

Biography: Catherine Foster was born in 1803 in Dublin, the daughter of James Hamilton and the Hon. Helen Pakenham. Through her mother, she was the niece of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. Both of her parents died while she was a child, her father in 1805 and her mother in 1807. In 1821, she married the Rev. William Henry Foster, the rector of Loughgilly and nephew of Lord Oriel. The couple had three children including the Australian lawyer and politician William John Foster. Relatively late in life, Foster published a single novel Lady Marion (1853) which received little-to-no notice. Thereafter, she gave up literature. She died in 1873.

Author Tags:

References: ADB (William John Foster); Burke

Fiction Titles:

  1. Lady Marion: or, A Sister's Love.  3 vol.  London: Hurst and Blackett, 1853.