Charlie Foster
Charlie Foster, (1908-?), Tumbarumba, NSW was interviewed and his tunes collected by John Meredith in 1983.
Charlie learned "Foster's Lancers Tune" from his father. His father was born in Mansfield, Vic. and it was Foster Sr. who followed the gold rush to Kiandra. Gold was discovered there in 1859 and in 1860 Kiandra comprised some 15,000 miners. The alluvial gold ran out by 1861 and most of the miners moved on, but mining continued there until 1905. The town gradually dwindled in size over the years until the last of the buildings was destroyed by bush fire in 2020. It is not known when Foster Sr. arrived in Kiandra but he subsequently free-selected a block near the Willygobung hills, 50km west of Kiandra, and 10km north of Tumbarumba. Charlie was still living on the selection at the time Meredith collected his tunes in 1983. Charlie had an older brother, Arthur.
Arthur Foster lived in Killarney Vale, on the Central Coast of NSW when he was interviewed by John Meredith a bit later in 1983. Arthur had worked as a linesman for the PMG, (later Telstra) and had traveled more widely. He played fiddle and mandolin and was considered a virtuoso on the leaf
Ref: John Meredith, Folk Songs of Australia, v.2 p260
