Henry Foley, S.J. (9 August 1811 – 19 November 1891) was an English Jesuit Roman Catholic church historian.

Biography

He was born at Astley in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, England on 9 August 1811. His father was the Protestant

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in charge at Astley. After his early education at home and at a private school at

Woodchester Woodchester is a Gloucestershire village in the Nailsworth (or Woodchester) Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds in England, running southwards from Stroud along the A46 road to Nailsworth. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was ...

, Henry was articled to a firm of solicitors in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, and in the course of time practised as a solicitor, at first in partnership with another, then by himself. Under the influence of the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

he was led to embrace the Catholic faith in 1846, and five years later, on the death of his wife Anne, daughter of John Vezard of Gloucestershire, he sought admission as a

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

into the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. Urged to enter as a scholastic and to prepare for the priesthood, he said it was Our Lady's wish that he should be a lay brother. For thirty years he occupied the post of lay brother ''

socius Socius may refer to: * Socii, of the Roman Republic in classical times * a Latin noun meaning "comrade, friend, ally" (adjectival form: ''socialis'') and used to describe a bond or interaction between parties that are friendly, or at least civil; ...

'' to the English provincial superior. During that time he produced his gigantic work, ''The Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'' (eight octavo volumes), a compilation of immense labour and original research and an invaluable store of historical detail put together with a persevering assiduity rarely found even in the most painstaking of historians. Brother Foley deserves to share with

Father Henry More Father Henry More (1586–1661) was an English Jesuit provincial and church historian. Biography He was son of Edward More, and great-grandson of Sir Thomas More, lord chancellor of England. He must not be confused with his cousin, Henry More ( ...

the title of historian of the Society. He also wrote ''Jesuits in Conflict'', a work describing the sufferings of some of the English Jesuit confessors of the Faith. As a religious, Brother Foley was a model of every virtue. His bodily austerities were remarkable, while his spirit of prayer led him at all free moments to the chapel. He died at Manresa House,

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

, on 19 November 1891.

Works

''Jesuits in Conflict''
London: Burns and Oates (1873)
''Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'', Vol. I
London: Burns and Oates (1877)
''Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'', Vol. II
London: Manresa Press (1875)
''Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus'', Vol. III
London: Burns and Oates (1878)

Sources

article by Peter Chandlery. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Henry 1811 births 1891 deaths 19th-century English Jesuits Historians of Jesuit history British historians of religion