[2] He was baptised at the parish church of St Augustine the Less, which stood next to Bristol Cathedral on College Green, on 25 June 1830.
[2] Foster & Wood have been described as the "most active and ..most consistent architectural firm in Bristol" and it has been suggested that John Foster specialised in the Italianate style favoured in the mid nineteenth century, while Joseph Wood's work inclined to the Gothic.
[4] Their work ranged from church building and restoration to the design of schools, workhouses, private dwellings and commercial property.
Foster continued to live with his family, first in Park Street and then at South Parade, Clifton, until his marriage on 9 April 1874 at St John's Church, Taunton to Catherine Walkey Gillett, daughter of George Gillett.
[5] Foster & Wood appeared regularly in the local newspapers as architects and surveyors to the Bristol Charities Trust, but there is a pause in their activity between 1873 and 1876, which is probably related to Foster's health; his obituary says he died after a long illness.