[1] It included mines, ironworks, furnaces and engineering works situated at Stourbridge, Shropshire and in the Black Country region of England.

The growth of his business was stimulated by booming railways, rails and other equipment being a major product of his works.

[12] Under Foster the industrial enterprises such as John Bradley & Co, inherited from his uncle, continued to prosper, the 1860s being particularly good years.

However, soon after his loss at the West Staffordshire election of 1868, Foster suffered a "paralytic seizure" which weakened his health and, for many years, he left business affairs with his wife and with his eldest son.

In the same year, he donated the early steam locomotive Agenoria, which had once served his ironworks and mines at Shut End, to the Science Museum (London).

Together, they had two sons and four daughters, including:[16] Foster died at Apley Hall on 29 September 1899, aged 84, and was buried on 5 October at Stockton.