Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster

Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster (9 November 1789 – 2 February 1860) was an English astronomer, physician, naturalist and philosopher. An early animal rights activist, he promoted vegetarianism and founded the Animals' Friend Society with Lewis Gompertz. He published pamphlets on a wide variety of subjects, including morality, Pythagorean philosophy, bird migration, Sati, and "phrenology", a term that he coined in 1815.

Life Forster was born in London, on 9 November 1789, the eldest son of Thomas Furly Forster of Walthamstow, who was a botanist, and follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He did not have the conventional classical literary education, but learned some science from his uncle Benjamin Meggot Forster. The Great Comet of 1811 aroused his interest in astronomy, a science which he continued to pursue, and eight years later, on 3 July 1819, he himself discovered a new comet. He declined a fellowship to the Royal Society in 1816 as he disliked some of the rules. He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in order to study law, but soon abandoned it to study medicine, taking his degree in 1819. Two years before, he had married Julia, daughter of Colonel Mark Beaufoy, and taken up residence at Spa Lodge, Tunbridge Wells. After the birth of his only daughter he moved to Hartwell in Sussex, and then spent three years abroad. During the 1820s, he converted to Roman Catholicism.

After his return to England he became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and helped to found a meteorological society along with Sir Richard Phillips, which had only a brief existence.

Forster lived in Bruges from 1842 to 1852. He then moved to Brussels, where he died on 2 February 1860.

Forster was influenced by John Abernethy under whom he studied surgery. Abernethy believed in diet as being key to health. In 1813, Forster published his Physiological Reflections on the Destructive Operation of Spiritous and Fermented Liquors on the Animal System where he traced his vegetarianism to Italian renaissance writing, Pythagorean ideas on the transmigration of the soul, cruelty to animals, and Hindu practices. He also influenced Shelley's conversion to vegetarianism. alt=Title page of a 1813 copy of Forster's "Researches about atmospheric phaenomena" Title page of a 1813 copy of Forster's "Researches about atmospheric phaenomena" Forster's observations and studies in Continental Europe led to the publication, in 1824, of his "Perennial Calendar". In 1830 he collected and published the letters of John Locke, Shaftesbury, and Algernon Sydney which he inherited from Benjamin Furly.

Other publications included: Researches About Atmospheric Phaenomena (London, 1813; 2nd ed., 1815) Reflections on the Destructive Operation of Spirituous Liquors (London, 1812) Somatopsychonoologia (1823) written under the pen-name Philostratus The Perennial Calendar, and Companion to the Almanack (1824) Pocket Encyclopedia of Natural Phenomena (from his father's MSS., 1826) Medicina Simplex (1832) Beobachtungen uber den Einfluss des Luftdruckes auf das Gehor (Frankfurt, 1835) Observations sur l'influence des Cometes (1836) Philozoia, or Moral Reflections on the actual condition of the Animal Kingdom, and the means of improving the same (Brussels, 1839) Pan, a Pastoral (Brussels, 1840) Essay on Abnormal Affections of the Organs of Sense (Tunbridge Wells, 1841) Sati or Universal Immortality (1843) [in which he wrote favourably on sati, considering it consistent with Christianity] Annales d'un Physicien Voyageur (Bruges, 1848) Numerous articles in The Gentleman's Magazine A Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds: Intended to Identify the Species Mentioned by Different Names in Several Catalogues Already Extant. Forming a Book of Reference to Observations on British Ornithology (printed by and for Nichols, son, and Bentley, 1817)