Ambrose Foss (c. 1803 in England – 4 May 1862) was an Australian alderman, chemist, druggist, dentist and landowner based in Sydney.[1] Together with colleague Edward Hunt, Foss founded the Congregational Church in New South Wales. Foss built a house called Forest Lodge after which a Sydney suburb is named.
In 1828, Foss purchased a chemist shop in Sydney from apothecary John Tawell; Foss would go on to own several more pharmaceutical and grocery stores in the next two decades.[1] In 1844, Foss established the Pharmaceutical Society of New South Wales with a few pharmacists based in Sydney. In 1859, Foss and his son Thomas Ambrose set up a wholesale drug store, Foss Son Company.[1]
Foss was also an landowner. In 1833, he and his first wife purchased the Hereford House in Glebe; three years later, in 1836, he built a house called Forest Lodge (demolished 1912) after which the Sydney suburb Forest Lodge is named.[1] In 1838, he built Carey Cottage on 18 Ferry Street, having bought land in Hunters Hill from Tawell.[1]
Foss was a devout Christian who served as the deacon of the Pitt Street Uniting Church. He began attending the Forest Lodge Church in 1847.[1]
Foss's first wife, Louise, died on 30 December 1852.[2] His daughter Emily Jane Foss married astronomer Henry Chamberlain Russell in 1861.[3] His son Thomas Ambrose, with whom he established Foss Son Company, was born in 1828 and died in 1871.[1] Foss and his first wife had at least seven children.[1] In 1854, he married a widow, Jane McCurdy, daughter of Bourn Russell.[4][5]
Ambrose Foss died on 4 May 1862 aged 59 in Balmain, Sydney.[6] His funeral had a modest attendance, with representatives of the Sydney Female Refuge, the Bible Society, and the Religious Tract and Book Society all present.[7] He was buried with Louise at Rookwood Cemetery.[1]