Lieut. Col. Cyril Pelham Foley (1 November 1868 – 9 March 1936) was an English cricketer, military officer and archaeologist.

Early life and education

Foley was born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, the son of General The Hon. Sir

St George Gerald Foley General Sir St. George Gerald Foley (10 July 1814 – 24 January 1897) was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey. Military career Born the son of Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley, Foley was commissioned into the 5 ...

, who was, among other things, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey from 1874 to 1879. He attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, where he was a prominent cricketer, scoring a century in the victory over Harrow in 1886. In 1887 he went up to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, where he was again a leading cricketer, playing in three successive victories for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

over

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

from 1889 to 1891.

Cricket career

Foley was a patient opening batsman, sound in defence and strong on the off side. He scored his two first-class centuries for Cambridge University: 113 against

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) in 1889, when Cambridge won by two wickets, and 117 against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in 1890, when he added 214 for the fourth wicket with

Gregor MacGregor General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central Am ...

and Cambridge won by 425 runs. He played 57 first-class matches for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

between 1893 and 1906, and was also a regular member of MCC teams from 1888 to 1906, playing 33 first-class matches. He toured the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

with Lord Brackley's XI in 1904–05, playing all of the 10 first-class matches, scoring 239 runs at an average of 14.05, with a top score of 58 in the victory over

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Military career

Foley was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

in November 1888 while a student at Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge, he joined the staff of

Lord Houghton Lord Houghton or Baron Houghton may refer to: *Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strong ...

Viceroy of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingd ...

. He took part in the Jameson Raid of 1895–96 in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, and later served with distinction in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, returning as temporary commander of the 3rd Royal Scots. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he commanded the 9th East Lancashire Regiment, serving for nearly two years in the trenches of France and Salonika without leave, and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. P. F. Warner, "Obituary: Lt.-Col. C. P. Foley", ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner e ...

'', Spring Annual 1936, pp. 51–52. He also served in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, gaining the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. In 1920 he transferred to Military Intelligence and served in Dublin during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. He resigned his commission and returned to London in October 1920.

Archaeologist

Foley was one of the members of an archaeological expedition party known as the Parker expedition that excavated in the Kidron Valley near

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1909 in an attempt to discover the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an e ...

. He joined the expedition in 1909 and for a limited time in 1910. He was not in Jerusalem in 1911. On 30 and 31 August 1909 he explored the Dragon's Shaft together with Clarence Chesney Wilson and Mr Walsh, the civil engineer. They were the first people to do so since Sir Charles Warren and Sergeant Birtles fifty years before them. He wrote his memoirs, ''Autumn Foliage'', in 1935.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Cyril 1868 births 1936 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Westminster English cricketers People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Middlesex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Cricketers from Westminster English archaeologists King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War East Lancashire Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers

Cyril Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek name Κύριλλος (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek κυριος (''kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various varian ...