Dent family connections
| Rank: Private |
Religion: Protestant |
Eyes, Hair, Complexion: Blue, Sandy, Fair |
Birth Place, Trade, Height, Marital Status, Ship to NZ |
Joshua Foster was born Jan 1839, a descendant of General Foster who served under William of Orange. He left Australia for New Zealand and the Otago goldfields about 1861 and was, apparently, very successful with his claim. After his success he returned to Australia, later enlisting in the Waikato militia and returning to New Zealand. He was listed as married when enlisting in Feb 1864 but this has not been confirmed. His town acre was in Galloway Street, Hamilton East and his 50 acre farm block was in River Road near Flagstaff. He was a sergeant in the Armed Constabulary from 1867 to the late 1870's and during part of this time he lived in Cambridge.
In Auckland, 1880, Joshua married Sarah Lally (b.1854). Eight years later Joshua bought 150 acres of bush at Te Akatea built a house there of pit sawn rimu timber. In mid 1889 the family (including four children) moved from Cambridge to the new block at Te Akatea. In August that same year he was one of the fifty settlers who planted a tree in Sydney Square, Hamilton East, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the militia's landing at Hamilton. Sarah died in 1907 and after Joshua's death in 1918 the farm passed to their son, William John Foster.
Joshua's and Sarah's children were: William John and James Mortimer (twins), Robert Howard, Thomas Joyce, Margaret Annie, J H Foster, Isabella Jane