Thomas Foley (1617–1677) was an English ironmaster and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at various times between 1659 and 1677.

Life

Foley was the eldest son of Richard Foley and his second wife Alice Brindley, herself the daughter of Sir William Brindley of Willenhall. His father was a prominent

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

ironmaster of Stourbridge. Foley took over his father's business and made great profits from it in the 1650s and 1660s, which he used to buy estates. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Worcestershire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of th ...

for 1656–57. In 1659 he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

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 ...

in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

. He was elected MP for

Bewdley Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...

in 1660 for the Convention Parliament. In 1673 he was elected MP for Bewdley in a by-election to the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

.History of Parliament Online - Foley, Thomas
/ref> Foley built

Witley Court Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the architect ...

. In the late 1660s, he founded a

bluecoat The bluecoat is a style of dress code, traditionally worn in Bluecoat schools (English private schools deriving from charity schools). The main element of the bluecoat is a long (dark blue or black) coat, belted at the waist, with white neck d ...

school at

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

known as

Old Swinford Hospital Old Swinford Hospital is a secondary boarding school in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England that has been in continuous operation since the 17th century. It is one of 36 state boarding schools in England, meaning school fees are f ...

, which he endowed in his will. Foley married Anne Browne, daughter of John Browne. They had four sons and two daughters: * Thomas Foley, whose granddaughter Elizabeth Foley married Robert Harley, later Prime Minister. * Paul Foley, father of two politicians *

Philip Foley Philip Foley (12 May 1648 – December 1716) was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley (1616–1677), Thomas Foley. His father transferred all his ironworks in the West Midlands (region), Midlands to him ...

* Samuel Foley * Martha Foley * Sarah Foley He handed his business over to his sons.

References

1616 births 1677 deaths English ironmasters Founders of English schools and colleges English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

High Sheriffs of Worcestershire 17th-century philanthropists Members of the Parliament of England for Worcestershire {{17thC-England-MP-stub