These Norman-French and their descendants are the Normans of history.

aunt minerva collection
The Foster Family by W.T. Foster, cont.



Alden's cyclopedia says:-"These Norman-French and their descendants are the Normans of history. Warlike, vigorous, a brilliant race. They rapidly adopted the more civilized life that prevailed in the Frankish (French) kingdom, its religion, language, and manners. They inspired everything they touched with their own abundant vitality. Their conquest of England, 1066, gave that country an energetic race of kings and nobles on the whole well fitted to rule a brave, sturdy, but somewhat torpid people like the Anglo-Saxons of England.
After very rough house for 150 years, the Norman-French and the Anglo-Saxons became friends, mingledon terms of equality, intermarried and produced the new English race. They secured the Great Charter, the great Basic law of human liberty; they established two of the world's greatest universities and altogether their methods resulted in laws that have been copied by every liberty loving people. But the Norman-French came to America by hundreds of thousands, particularly in 1700 to 1730 and their descendants became the leading spirits of the American Revolution. More than half of Washington's army were sons of the Norman-French who came over from England, Scotland, and Ireland.
The Foster family continued to be promiment in England. one of them was Chief Justice of the English Supreme Court, many of them were governors of military castles and each of these was a member of the House of Lords. They were among the leading lawyers, scientists, generals and statesmen. The Pierce genealogy gives the namse of twenty-four Forsters who were governors of Bamborough caslte and memberes of the upper House of Parliament from 1066 to 1709. General Thomas Forster was the last. He and his aunt Dorothy Foster, who married Bishop Grewe, held Bamborough jointly and Bishop Grewe bought the interest of Thomas Forster who was of Etherstone castle and became Governor of Bamborough castle in 1709 because the last Governor of Bamborough left no heir. This Thomas Forster was a very distant relative of the Bamborough Forsters.
See Number 31 of "Our Ancestral Line", where John Foster, son of Thomas, emigrated from England to Scotland. He had no particular claim to distinction. The family was passing out of public affairs in England. They and all descendants of the Norman-French belonged to the church element that were finally driven out of the church of England in 1662, were known as Noncomformists and later organized the Presbyterian Church which became very strong in Scotland, and that lead to many of the Norman-French element going to that country.
In England the Celts were genereally Catholics. They were the oldest inhabitants and were conquered by the Romans. The Saxons and Angles were near relatives, had driven the Romans out, conquered the Celts and then in 1066 were conquered by the Norman-French. About 1662 these Saxons and Angles had gotten control of the Church of England and hence the split which drove out the Norman-French who emigrated to Scotland, Ireland, and America. Later those who went to Scotland and Ireland came to America.