He was the son of Robert Forster of London, a stockfish merchant.
Elected Sheriff of London in 1444, he became Lord Mayor of London in 1454, and served as the city's Member of Parliament in King Henry VI's 13th parliament.
[1] According to historian John Strype, Foster married a widow named Agnes, who enlarged Ludgate prison (where Forster had at one time been imprisoned for debt[2]) and improved conditions for those incarcerated therein.
[3] Agnes and Stephen Forster appear as characters in William Rowley's (1586–1626) play A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed, based on their lives.
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