George James Foley (28 November 1872 – 27 October 1945) was an Australian politician from

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. He was the member for the Western Australian seat of Mount Leonora from 1911 until 1920, initially for the Labor Party until 1917 when he joined the

National Labor Party The National Labor Party was formed by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes in 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Pri ...

. He then entered the Federal

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

as the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

member for the seat of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

, which he held until 1922.

Biography

Foley was born in Walhalla on the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n goldfields to Thomas Foley, a miner and railway employee, and Elizabeth Foley (née Stamp). He was educated at local schools before entering a state training college in Melbourne and gaining employment with a newspaper in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. He moved to Western Australia in 1895 and took up gold mining, becoming part-owner of the Grace Darling mine at

Broad Arrow A broad arrow, of which a pheon is a variant, is a stylised representation of a metal arrowhead, comprising a tang and two barbs meeting at a point. It is a symbol used traditionally in heraldry, most notably in England, and later by the Brit ...

. On 27 January 1902, he married Fannie Gill at the Wesley Church in

. He joined the Federated Miners Union and served as its Gwalia branch president, and later became president of the North Goldfields Council of the

Labor Federation Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. Prior to the October 1911 state election, he was selected by Labor to contest the seat of Mount Leonora; he obtained 1,019 of the 1,172 valid votes cast and entered the Legislative Assembly. He won the seat without opposition at the 1914 election. In March 1917, the Labor Party split in Western Australia ahead of the 1917 federal election, and a number of Labor members, including Foley, either resigned from the Party or were expelled for supporting

Senate candidates. Former premier

John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916. Early life John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...

and several others formed the

with a base in the

Goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

region. Foley won the state election later that year easily against a Labor opponent. In 1918, he was also elected to the

Perth City Council Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

for a one-year term. On 18 November 1920, Foley resigned from the Legislative Assembly to contest the Kalgoorlie federal by-election, which had been called due to the expulsion of Labor member

Hugh Mahon Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

from the

. Foley contested the by-election as a Nationalist Party member, and won against Mahon. He was defeated at the 1922 election, and failed to win the state seat of Kimberley at the 1924 election. He worked as an auctioneer in Perth before retiring to Kalgoorlie. George Foley died on 27 October 1945 in the Perth suburb of

Mount Hawthorn Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

and was buried in the Congregationalist section of

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

. He had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, George 1872 births 1945 deaths Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Kalgoorlie Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Victoria (state) Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Australian auctioneers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia 20th-century Australian politicians