As the man remembered for bringing education to all William Forster was probably pretty keen on spelling.
So the eminent Victorian may well be spinning in his grave over the naming of a street in the village where he lived.
William Foster Way – without the ‘r’ – has been baffling residents and visitors to Burley-in-Wharfedale, who are not sure who it is supposed to commemorate.
But it has been revealed the name is probably the result of an administrative error dating back more than a decade.
The decision to honour William Forster, along with fellow mill owner William Fison, was taken when the then Burley Community Council was invited to put forward names for streets on the new Scalebor Park estate. Other names suggested included a former superintendant of Scalebor Hospital and a former vicar of Burley.
But despite the suggestions being approved by the Shipley Area Panel of Bradford Council in 2001 the street which should have commemorated Forster was misnamed.
It is not clear whether the mistake was a simple case of bad spelling or whether it was wrongly named after Queensbury mill owner William Foster.
Burley Parish Council clerk Ian Orton has asked Bradford to look into the issue after it was raised by a member of the public.
He said: “It is likely that an administrative error was made by the planning department of Bradford Council.”
He said if a mistake had been made Bradford would replace the street sign.
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