Philip Foley (12 May 1648 – December 1716) was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley. His father transferred all his

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

in the

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 ...

to him in 1668 and 1669 for £60,000. He also settled an estate at Prestwood near

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 ...

on him on his marriage, to which Philip added the manor of

Kinver Kinver is a large village in the District of South Staffordshire in Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the We ...

Ironworks

Philip ran the ironworks but found that they were not as profitable as they had been, and began from 1674 to sell them off. One group was bought by Sir Clement Clerke. He disposed of the last of them to two of his managers John Wheeler and Richard Avenant, and they also took over what had been Sir Clement Clerke's ironworks when some of those reverted to Philip Foley. Wheeler and Avenant were more successful in running a rather reduced business and leased

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

s in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

from Philip's brother

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

. In 1692, the two joined the managers in the business. Philip remained a partner for the rest of his life, but his family sold out of it shortly after his death. This business produced high quality

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...

which was sent up the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

for sale through a warehouse at

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 ...

, as well as supplying the firm's own forges such as Wilden Forge on the River Stour. In 1705, John Wheeler retired from managing the business in favour of William Rea, and the firm gave up its remaining ironworks in the Stour valley. Another iron making business became available with the death of Philip's uncle Henry Glover in 1689. This was handed over to John Wheeler, but in 1695, he and Philip decided that Philip had actually been a partner in it since 1689. This probably could not be openly declared earlier as Philip was one of Glover's executors. This had iron works consisting of Mearheath

Furnace A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion. Furnace may also refer to: Appliances Buildings * Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings * Boiler, used t ...

(a little distance from the present Meir Heath), and Consall and Oakamoor Forges. Further works were added, including a group in the east Midlands consisting of Staveley

and

Forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

and Carburton

, though that group were only used from 1695 to 1698 when they were handed over to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

s. They also made a trade investment in ironworks in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, in connection with securing a supply of pig iron from there. The Staffordshire and Cheshire businesses were amalgamated in 1708, but Philip probably sold out shortly after 1710.

Politics

Philip was also involved in politics as a Member of Parliament and was first elected for

in 1679. He was subsequently elected for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

in 1689 and 1695 and

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. The ...

in 1690 and 1701. There was a time when five of the family were 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. ...

together, the others being his brothers

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 ...

and Paul Foley, and his nephews (their sons) both called Thomas, one of whom later became

Lord Foley Baron Foley is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain, both times for members of the same family. The first creation came in 1712 in favour of Thomas Foley, who had earlier represented Stafford in the House of Co ...

. They belonged to the Country Whigs, like their brother in law Robert Harley.

Religion

Like most of his family, he was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, though evidently conforming to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

at least occasionally. He employed a series of domestic chaplains, who established Presbyterian congregations in several nearby towns.

Family

Philip married Penelope, daughter of

William Paget, 5th Baron Paget William Paget, 5th Baron Paget (13 September 1609 – 19 October 1678) was an English peer. He was born at Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to William Paget, 4th Baron Paget and Lettice Knollys. Career He was a Parliamentarian with ...

. Their eldest son was Paul Foley of Prestwood (died 27 November 1739). He married Elizabeth Turton, and died leaving two sons (William, born 17 May 1710, and Philip, born 4 June 1711) and three older daughters, including Elizabeth (born 3 November 1707) who married John Hodgetts of Shut End in Kingswinford. Their only child Eliza Maria Foley Hodgetts married her distant cousin Hon Edward Foley. The Prestwood estate followed this descent, being settled on her marriage to descend to her second son John Hodgetts Hodgetts-Foley. Paul's daughter, Penelope, married Charles Howard, and through their daughter Mary Howard, who married Dr Erasmus Darwin, they were the paternal great grandparents of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Philip Business people from Worcester, England English ironmasters Politicians from Worcester, England English Presbyterians 1648 births 1716 deaths

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Stafford