Thomas Foley (14 June 1853 - 16 September 1920) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Biography

Foley was born in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Wales, the son of John Foley and his wife Elizabeth (née Edwards) and was educated at the British Admiralty School. He came to Townsville with his wife and four children in 1883 at a time when vacant houses in the area were scarce and the family had to make do with living in a tent in an area of Townsville known as Canvastown. They eventually moved to a house in Macrossan Street where he lived for the rest of his life. He secured work at first with the Townsville City Council and later worked on some of the early brick buildings of the town including the municipal buildings and St James' Cathedral. He later worked on the wharves of Townsville as a stevedore. Foley married he married Mary Harris (died 1931) in Swansea in 1873 and together had seven sons and four daughters. After being seriously ill with heart troubles and asthma for several months he died in Townsville in September 1920 and his funeral moved from his late residence to the West End Cemetery.Burial Details - West End Cemetery
— Townsville City Council Retrieved 5 June 2016.

Public career

An early member of the

Waterside Workers Union Waterside may refer to: Placenames Canada *RBC Waterside Centre, a commercial development in Halifax, Nova Scotia *Waterside, New Brunswick United Kingdom *Waterside, East Ayrshire *Waterside, Buckinghamshire *Waterside, Cumbria *Waterside, De ...

, Foley was elected as an alderman on the Townsville City Council for the South Ward on two separate occasions. He then stood at the

1907 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 18 May 1907 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election was the first one in which women had a right to vote. The election was the first held since Prem ...

as a representative of the Labour Party for the two-member seat of Townsville but was defeated by the Opposition pairing of Robert Philp and

Patrick Hanran Patrick Francis Hanran (16 September 1831 – 8 August 1916) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early life Hanran was born in Limerick, Ireland, the son of Corporal Francis Hanrahan and his wife Bridget (née Hayes). His ...

. He stood again at the

1908 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 5 February 1908 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election, held less than 9 months after the previous election, was made necessary by a series of eve ...

and after leading on the primary vote eventually lost again to the same pair after the postal votes had been counted. He stood again at the

1909 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 2 October 1909 to elect the members of the state's Legislative Assembly. Key dates The elections were held on 2 October 1909. Results See also * Members of the Queensland L ...

and this time was successful, winning the vote and becoming the senior member for the seat. He represented the electorate until it reverted to a one-member seat at the

1912 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 27 April 1912 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election was the first for the recently formed Liberal government of Digby Denham, who had been premi ...

at which time he switched to the new neighbouring seat of

Mundingburra Mundingburra is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb of Townsville in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mundingburra had a population of 3,620 people. Geography Mundingburra is predominantly a residential suburb ...

. He went on to represent the people of that electorate until his death in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Thomas Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1853 births 1920 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland