Lady Emily Foley (23 June 1805 – 1 January 1900) was a major landowner and benefactress in nineteenth-century England. She was born Lady Emily Graham, the daughter of

James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

in 1805. In 1832, she married The Hon. Edward Foley, who was fourteen years her senior. On his death in 1846, she gained control of extensive estates in Staffordshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. She also became

Lady of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...

and of

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is ...

. She presided over the rapid growth of

during the middle of the nineteenth century. She placed many restrictions on building in the town, ensuring that all houses were well spaced, had large gardens, and maintained many trees. Her family name of Graham provided the name of Graham Road in the centre of the town, with its many large Victorian houses, including the Montrose Hotel. She was also a substantial benefactor of many churches and schools in Great Malvern. She left no children and allowed the Stoke Edith estate in Herefordshire to pass to her husband's great-nephew Paul Henry Foley of Prestwood, Staffordshire.

Arms

References

1805 births 1900 deaths 19th-century English nobility 19th-century Scottish women Emily Daughters of British dukes 19th-century English landowners 19th-century women landowners Emily People associated with Malvern, Worcestershire Women of the Victorian era English women philanthropists 19th-century British businesspeople {{UK-noble-stub