64 THE WEEKIN FOREST 



beloved Jolm Foster, of Wellington, in the county 

 of Salop, Gentilnian, for certain diseases and infir- 

 mities whicli lie has on Ids hede, cannot consequently, 

 without great danger and jeopardy, be discovered of 

 the same. Whereupon we, in consideration thereof, 

 by these presents, licenced hym from henceforth to 

 use and were his bonet on his said hede," &c. 



It will be observed that in this grant the name 

 occurs in its abridged form as Foster, and in the 

 Sheriffs of Shropshire and many old documents it is 

 variously spelt as Forester, Forster, and Foster, a 

 circumstance which during the progress of the 

 present work suggested an inquiry, the result of 

 which — mainly through the researches of a pains- 

 taking friend — may add weight and interest to the 

 archaeological lore previously collected in connection 

 with the family. It appears, for Instance, that the 

 Anthony Foster of Sir Walter Scott's '' Kenil- 

 ■ worth " was descended from the Foresters of 

 Wellington ; that he held the manor of Little 

 Wenlock and other property in Shropshire in 1545 ; 

 that the Richard Forester or Forster who built the 

 interesting half-timbered mansion,* still standing in 



* The Old Hall, which we suppose to have been the old hunting 

 lodge, the residence of Dr. Cranage, "Watling Street, is another 



