Horace John Foley (23 November 1900 – 3 July 1989) was an Australian medical practitioner and mayor of Glebe. Foley was born at Mudgee to schoolteacher James Foley and Margaret Mary, ''née'' English. He attended Mudgee High School before studying medicine at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, from which he graduated in 1926. He practised first at Strathfield before moving to Glebe, where he worked for the rest of his career. He married Sarah Agnes May Farmer at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Rockdale on 23 November 1932. Foley was a member of the Labor Party, and supported

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Jack Lang in the 1930s split. He ran unsuccessfully for the state seat of Burwood in 1932 before winning election to Glebe Council in December 1934, serving as mayor in 1937 and 1938. He clashed with Lang and in December 1937 led his own group, the "Foley Labor Party", which defeated Lang's forces at the municipal elections. In 1938 he ran for the state seat of Glebe for the Industrial Labor Party, which opposed Lang. Foley was convicted in 1938 of misusing council vehicles; he was fined and disqualified from sitting on the council. Lang's second splinter party, the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) (after 1941 simply Lang Labor), appealed to Foley's anti-

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

leanings and he ran federally for West Sydney in 1943 and 1949 and for the state seat of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in 1944, 1947 and 1950. He was elected to Sydney City Council at a 1945 by-election for Phillip Ward and Glebe Council in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

; when the two amalgamated, Foley's Lang Labor ticket defeated the official Labor group for the Glebe seats. He resigned from the council in 1950 but served again 1953–56. Foley rejoined the ALP in 1957 and soon gained control of the branch of Glebe North, analogous to the branch he had controlled in the 1930s. He was a councillor on

Hornsby Shire Council Hornsby Shire is a local government area situated in Northern Sydney (Upper North Shore), as well as parts of the Hills District, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The shire stretches from the M2 Hills Motorway in the south to the Haw ...

from 1962 to 1965 and served for the Glebe ward on Leichhardt Municipal Council from 1968 to 1971. Remembered as a socially conservative

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in a working-class community, Foley has a park named after him in Glebe. He died at

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

in 1989 and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery. In 1964, the Sydney City Council renamed the Glebe Rest Park as the "Dr H J Foley Rest Park" in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Horace 1900 births 1989 deaths Lang Labor politicians University of Sydney alumni Politicians from Sydney 20th-century Australian politicians Mayors of The Glebe Australian Labor Party councillors