John Foster (1752–1822) of High Green in the parish of Ecclesfield, West Riding of Yorkshire was a coroner and amateur musician.
They comprise 17 settings of metrical psalm and hymn texts (8 in the first book and 9 in the second), with orchestral and keyboard accompaniments, and are dedicated to Richard Lumley-Saunderson, 6th Earl of Scarbrough.
[4] The tune was originally published in A 2d Collection of Sacred Music as a setting of Psalm 47 in the metrical version by John Hopkins, Ye people all with one accord:[5] the pub carol tradition is thought to originate from the ejection of 'west gallery' choirs and bands from parish churches in the mid-nineteenth century.
[6] Foster is credited by Alfred Gatty, vicar of Ecclesfield from 1839 to 1903, with the suppression of dog- and cock-fighting in the local area.
[7] Commercial recordings of two of Foster's works, with full orchestral accompaniments, have been made by the group 'Psalmody' conducted by Peter Holman.