A framed chromolithograph by ELF picturing Robert Henry Foster, lawyer, author, poet, oarsmen and pioneering Romano-British archaeologist. His excavations at Roman Corbridge on Hadrian's Wall were seminal in the fledgling field of British archaeology. He wrote widely about Hadrian's Wall and the Roman presence in his native Northumberland.

A keen oarsman, he rowed in the first boat of his college's Lady Margaret Boat Club and in the crew sent to Henley in 1888, winning both the Thames cup and Ladies plate. He later became joint secretary of the Thames Rowing Club in 1892.

Starting out with a legal career in mind, he was called to the Bar in 1892, having been McMahon Law Student the year before. However, his writing soon took precedence, to be joined by his archaeological interests.