Thomas, a son of Robert Forester of Wellington, in the Hundred Rolls, in 1254, is said by the king’s justices itinerant to hold half a virgate of the king to keep the Hay of Wellington. Roger le Forester of Wellington, who succeeded Robert, appears to have died 1277–8, and to have left two sons, Robert and Roger. Robert had property in Wellington and the Bailiwick of the forest of the Wrekin, and is supposed to have succeeded his father, whom he did not long survive, having died the year following, 1278–9. Roger his brother succeeded to his possession, and held also the Hay of Wellington, of which he died seized in 1284–5. Robert, the Forester of Wellington, Mr. Blakeway says, occurs in the Hundred Roll of Bradford in 1287, and is shown to have held the Hay of Wellington till 1292–3, when Roger, son of Roger, proving himself of age, paid the king one merk as a relief for his lands in Wellington, held by sergeantry, to keep Wellington Hay, in the forest of the Wrekin, &c. This is the Roger de Wellington before-mentioned, as one of King Edward’s foresters by fee, recorded in his Great Charter of the forests of Salopssier, in the perambulation of 1300. He died 1331.
John le Forester, as John, son and heir of Roger le Forester de Welynton, succeeded to the property, and proved himself of age in the reign of Edward III., 1335. With John de Eyton he attested a grant in Wellington, and died 24th of Edward III., 1350.
William le Forester succeeded his father, John, in 1377, and died 19th of Richard II., 1395.
In 1397 Roger Forester de Wellington is described as holding Wellington Hay and Chace. He died in 1402.
Roger, his son and heir, was in 1416 appointed keeper of the same haia by the Duchess of Norfolk and the Lady Bergavenny, sisters and co-heiresses of the great Thomas Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel.
His son and successor, John, died 5th of Edward IV. 1465, seized of the lands, &c., in Wellington, and the custody of the forest of the Wrekin. He had two sons, William and John, also a son Richard; and William, son of the above, appears to have been the father of another John, the former John having died without issue. John, in 1506, witnesses a deed of Thomas Cresset, as John Forester the younger; he married Joice Upton, the heiress of Philip Upton, of Upton under Haymond, and obtained the estate of that place, which is still inherited by his descendants.
This John Forester first resided in Watling Street, where his ancestors for several generations had lived, in the old timbered mansion, now occupied by Dr. Cranage, but he afterwards removed to Easthope, whilst his son William resided at Upton; and Richard Forester, alias Forster of Sutton Maddock, secretary to Bishop Bonner, who built the old mansion in Bridgnorth, called “Forester’s Folly,” which was burnt down during the siege of the castle, when the high town became a heap of ruins, appears to have been a son of John Forester, of Easthope; and Anthony Forester or Foster of Sir Walter Scott’s novel, who was born about 1510, was a son of his.
In the 34th of Henry VIII., 1542–3, Thomas Foster and Elizabeth his wife, account in the Exchequer for several temporalities in connection with the monastery of St. Peter’s, Shrewsbury. Sir William Forester, KB., married Lady Mary Cecil, daughter of James, third Earl of Salisbury. He was a staunch Protestant, and represented the county with George Weld, as previously stated, with whom he voted in favour of the succession of the House of Hanover, and the family came into possession of the Willey estates by the marriage of Brook Forester of Dothill Park, with one of the Welds, the famous George Forester, the Willey Squire, being the fruit of that marriage. George Forester left the whole of his estates to his cousin, Cecil Forester, of Ross Hall, who was allowed by George the Fourth, whose personal friendship he had been permitted to enjoy for many years, to add the name of Weld in 1821. Cecil Weld Forester, Esq., was ennobled the same year by George the Fourth, who, when Prince of Wales, honoured him with a visit at Ross Hall. He married Catherine, daughter of His Grace the fourth Duke of Rutland, and was not less renowned than his cousin, as a sportsman. His eagerness for the chase was happily characterised by the late Mr. Meynell, who used to say, “First out of cover came Cecil Forester, next the fox, and then my hounds.” A famous leap of his, thirty feet across a stream, on his famous horse Bernardo, has been recorded in some lines now at Willey which accompany the portrait of the horse. He is supposed to have been one of the first who instituted the present system of hard riding to hounds, and a horse known to have been ridden by him, it is said, would at any time fetch £20 more than the ordinary price. Speaking of the classic proportions of a horse, and the perfection of the art of riding in connection with his lordship as a sportsman, Colonel Apperley, remarked some years ago, “Unless a man sits gracefully on his horse, and handles him well, that fine effect is lost. As the poet says, he would be incorporated with the brave beast, and such does Lord Forester appear to be. His eye to a country is also remarkably quick, and his knowledge of Leicestershire has given him no small advantage. On one occasion he disregarded the good old English custom of ‘looking before you leap,’ and landed in the middle of a deep pool. ‘Hold on,’ a countryman who saw him, shouted to others coming in the same direction. ‘Hold your tongue—say nothing, we shall have it full in a minute,’ said Lord Forester.” The Colonel added, “In consequence of residing in Shropshire, a country which has been so long famous for its breed of horses, he has a good opportunity of mounting himself well. He always insisted on the necessity of lengthy shoulders, good fetlocks, well formed hind legs and open feet; and knowing better than to confound strength and size, his horses seldom exceeded fifteen hands. On anything relating to a hunter his authority has long been considered classic, and if Forester said so it was enough. Lord Forester will always stand pre-eminent in the field, whilst in private life he is a very friendly man, and has ever adhered to those principles of honour and integrity which characterise the gentleman.” He died on the 23rd of May, 1828, in his 61st year. He had, as we have said, ten children, the gallant Frank Forester, as Colonel Apperley styles him, being one. The oldest was the present Right Hon. J. G. W. Forester, whose popularity in connection with the Belvoir Hunt is so well known.
His lordship, whose portrait we give at the commencement of this work, and who is now in the 73rd year of his age, has added very much to the Willey estates, both by purchase and by improvements, and is very much esteemed by his tenantry.
The Right Hon. General Forester, who succeeded his brother in the representation of Wenlock, has sat for the borough for forty-five years, and is now the Father of the House of Commons. Whether out-door exercises, associated with the pleasures of the chase, to which the ancestors of the Foresters have devoted themselves for so many centuries, have anything to do with it or not we cannot say; but the Foresters are remarkable for masculine and feminine beauty, and the General has frequently been spoken of by the press as the best looking man in the House of Commons. Neither he nor his elder brother, the present Rt. Hon. Lord Forester, are likely to leave behind them direct issue. The younger brother, the Hon. and Rev. O. W. W. Forester, has one son, Cecil, who has several sons to perpetuate the name of Forester, which we hope will long be associated with Willey.