James Foster

James Foster (1786–1853) was a British ironmaster who, in partnership with the engineer John Urpeth Rastrick, operated Foster, Rastrick and Company at Stourbridge. The firm built the locomotive Agenoria in 1829 for the Earl of Dudley's Shutt End Railway and exported the Stourbridge Lion to the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company in the United States, the first commercial locomotive to run in North America.

Born at Stourbridge on 15 August 1786, Foster joined his uncle's ironworks and built up John Bradley & Co. into one of the leading West Midlands ironmasters. The Foster-Rastrick partnership operated the Stourbridge Engine Works alongside the iron and rolling business until Rastrick's death in 1856. Foster also served as Conservative MP for Bridgnorth (1828–1832 and 1835–1838). He died at Stourbridge on 13 September 1853.