William Wasbrough Foster
William " Billy" Foster DSO CMG Wasbrough ( born October 1, 1875 in Bristol, † December 2, 1954 in Vancouver ) was a politician and military officer of British origin in British Columbia. In addition, he made himself as a mountaineer a name. He is one of the Erstbesteigern of Canada's highest mountain, Mount Logan, and the 2135 meter high Mount Colonel Foster was named after him.
Life
William Wasbrough Foster was born in 1875 in Bristol. From 1887 to 1889 he attended Wycliffe College in Stroud, Gloucestershire. In 1892 he emigrated to Canada at age 17. 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, 1913 elected member of the Legislative Assembly. He was also president of the British Columbia Conservative Party.
1912 baptized Arthur Oliver Wheeler, founder of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC ), in which alleged - actually only reached Mike Walsh 1968 the highest point of the mountain - first ascent of an 2135 meter high mountain on Vancouver Iceland this honor Fosters, the financial resources, the had found for an expedition of the ACC in winter 1911/1912 in the newly created Strathcona Provincial Park, in the name of Mount Colonel Foster. Foster was on the expedition that led to the first ascent of Elkhorn Mountain, among others under the direction of Wheeler's son, Edward Oliver, do not attend.
1913 undertook Foster in collaboration with Konrad Cain and Albert MacCarthy an expedition to Mount Robson. This is considered to be one of two possible first ascents of the mountain. They arrived on 31 July 1913 summit of the highest mountain with 3954 meters of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
During the First World War, Foster joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He served, among other things four years in France, where he took part in the battles of the Somme and Vimy and was wounded several times, twice hard. He was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Mentioned in Despatches five times, was awarded the Croix de Guerre in the Belgian and French version and is said to have rejected the Victoria Cross. Most recently, he held the rank of Brigadier. On his return to Canada, he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 15th Battalion of the Canadian artillery. In addition, he was president of the Royal Canadian Legion from 1938 to 1940, the Canadian National Parks Association and 1920-1924 of the ACC.
In 1925 he again took part in an expedition with Albert MacCarthy. This led to the hitherto unclimbed Mount Logan. The highest peak of Canada measures 5959 meters and is therefore also the second highest of his continent, so one of the Seven Second Summits. Other members of the expedition were Allen Carpe, Howard Frederick Lambart, Norman H. Read and Andrew Taylor. They reached the summit on 23 June 1925.
On January 3, 1935 Foster was appointed Chief of Police (Chief Constable ) of the Vancouver Police Department. Under his leadership, the municipal police was fundamentally restructured. The reforms are described as successful, criminal elements have been displaced, so it was safe again to go out at night on the street.
His career as a police chief was interrupted by the Second World War, to which he was drafted in 1939 at the age of almost 65 years. During his service to the new weapon, he was promoted to Major General.
Foster died on December 2, 1954 in Vancouver. He left a wife, three sons and two daughters.