The company can be traced back to 1846, when William Foster purchased a flour mill in Lincoln.

[citation needed] From 1889 they also made traction engines,[1] such as the Foster Wellington and Showman's road locomotives.

The larger tractor used a 6-cylinder 105 bhp Daimler petrol sleeve-valve engine, and had three forward and one reverse gear.

[1] At the beginning of the war Fosters supplied 97 Foster-Daimler tractors to the Royal Marine Artillery to tow the BL 15-inch howitzer.

[5] Foster's, as builders of agricultural machinery, were involved in the production and design of the prototype tanks.

Gwynnes Limited manufactured centrifugal pumps from the mid 19th century in Hammersmith until acquired by Foster & Co. in 1927.