Forster was born at Walsall, the son of Charles Forster and his wife Hannah Westley.^[1] He became a banker and Mayor of Walsall, before being elected the first MP for Walsall in the reformed parliament of 1832.^[2] In 1845 he was High Sheriff of Staffordshire.

Forster married Elizabeth Emery in 1813. His son Charles was also Member of Parliament for Walsall and became a baronet, of Lysways Hall^[3]