Baron Foley is a title that has been created twice in the
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...
, both times for members of the same family.
The first creation came in 1712 in favour of
Thomas Foley, who had earlier represented
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
. He was the grandson of the prominent ironmaster
Thomas Foley and the nephew of
Paul Foley,
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
, and
Philip Foley
Philip Foley (12 May 1648 – December 1716) was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley. His father transferred all his ironworks in the Midlands to him in 1668 and 1669 for £60,000. He also settled an ...
. However, this creation became extinct in 1766 on the death of his son, the second Baron.
The second creation came in 1776 when the barony was revived for
Thomas Foley, the cousin, heir and namesake of the last holder of the 1712 creation, who was created Baron Foley, of
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...
in Worcestershire. He was a former
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Droitwich
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
The ...
and
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He also represented Droitwich and Herefordshire in Parliament and served as
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
. On his death the title passed to his son, the third Baron. He notably held office as
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms
The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a post in the Government of the United Kingdom that has been held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is th ...
(Government Chief Whip in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
) in the
Whig administration of
Lord Grey.
He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Baron. He was also a
Whig politician and succeeded his father as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in 1833, a post he held until 1834, and again from 1835 to 1841, from 1846 to 1852, from 1852 to 1858, from 1859 to 1866 and from 1868 to 1869. On the death of his second son, the sixth Baron, in 1918, this line of the family failed. The late Baron was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, the seventh Baron. He was the grandson of General the Hon. Sir
St George Gerald Foley, third son of the third Baron. the title is held by the seventh Baron's grandson, the ninth Baron. He succeeded his father, a composer and pianist who held the title for 83 years, in 2012.
The family seat was
Witley Court
Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the archit ...
until this was sold to trustees for
William, Lord Ward (later the 1st Earl of Dudley), in 1837.
Barons Foley; First creation (1712)
*
Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (1673–1733)
*
Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley (1703–1766)
Barons Foley; Second creation (1776)
*
Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (1716–1777)
*
Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley (1742–1793)
*
Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley
Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley PC, DL (22 December 1780 – 16 April 1833), was a British peer and Whig politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen Pensioners under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1833.
Background
Foley ...
(1780–1833)
*
Thomas Henry Foley, 4th Baron Foley (1808–1869)
*
Henry Thomas Foley, 5th Baron Foley (1850–1905)
* Fitzalan Charles John Foley, 6th Baron Foley (1852–1918)
* Gerald Henry Foley, 7th Baron Foley (1898–1927)
*
Adrian Gerald Foley, 8th Baron Foley (1923–2012)
* Thomas Henry Foley, 9th Baron Foley (b. 1961)
The
heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question.
...
is the present holder's sixth cousin, Rupert Thomas Foley (b. 1970),
Profile
thepeerage.com; accessed 25 March 2016. great-great-great-great-grandson of Hon. Edward Foley, second son of the 1st Baron.
The heir presumptive's heir is his infant son.
See also
*Foley baronets The Foley Baronetcy, of Thorpe Lee in the County of Surrey, was a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 1 July 1767 for Robert Ralph Foley. He was a member of the influential family of ironmasters founded by Richard Foley (iron ...
References
Sources
*
* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
*
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Baronies in the Peerage of Great Britain
Extinct baronies in the Peerage of Great Britain
Noble titles created in 1712
Noble titles created in 1776
Foley family