Scope and Content Note
The papers of Sir Augustus John Foster (1780-1848) span the years 1794-1844. The papers are divided into three series: Correspondence, Diaries, and a narrative of observations by Foster entitled “Notes on the United States of America.” Foster was the United Kingdom’s minister to the United States when war with England was declared in 1812.
The Correspondence series consists of letters from Foster to his mother, later wife of the fifth Duke of Derbyshire, and her replies, 1798-1826, as well as miscellaneous correspondence dated 1794-1795.
The Diaries are recorded for the years 1798, 1806, 1809, 1811-1816, 1818, and 1825-1844. Some volumes contain years in addition to those marked on the covers. The volume for 1806 concerns Foster’s service in Washington as secretary to the British legation to the United States. Other volumes concern his assignment as secretary to the British legation to Naples, capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and as British minister to the Savoy court at Turin, capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia (both in present-day Italy).
Also included is a five-volume draft entitled, “Notes on the United States of America,” a narrative of Foster's observations of this country. This set of notes is a later version of a draft held by the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. It was found in the 1930s by Foster’s descendants in a cupboard in the family home in Northern Ireland. Portions of these papers have been transcribed and published.