Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley FRS (8 November 1673 – 22 January 1733), of Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, was an English landowner,

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 larg ...

and Tory politician who sat in the English and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1694 until 1712, when he was raised to the peerage as

Baron 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 ...

as one of Harley's Dozen. 2013 04 19 Whitly Court 03

Foley was the eldest son of Thomas Foley and inherited the

Great Witley Great Witley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the northwest of the county of Worcestershire, England. It is situated around ten miles to the north west of the city of Worcester. The parish had a population of 743 i ...

estate on his father's death. His younger brothers were Edward Foley and Richard Foley. He was educated at Sheriffhales academy under John Woodhouse in 1689 and then for some years at Utrecht. He was admitted at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

on 30 May 1695. Foley was returned as Member of Parliament for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

at a by election on 21 November 1694 followed up by an unopposed return at the

1695 English general election The 1695 English general election was the first to be held under the terms of the Triennial Act 1694, which required parliament to be dissolved and fresh elections called at least every three years. This measure helped to fuel partisan rivalry ov ...

. He was a Commissioner for taking subscriptions to the land bank in 1696. He held the seat at Stafford until 1712 when he was raised to the peerage, as one of 12 peers created on the recommendation of the

Lord Treasurer The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord ...

, the

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. De Vere family, His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half cen ...

, to give him a majority in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Business

When the lease of ironworks at Wilden and

Shelsley Walsh Shelsley Walsh is a small village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, on the western side of the River Teme. For administrative purposes it is presently located in the Teme Valley ward of the county’s Malvern Hills district. In the 20 ...

expired in 1708, Foley took them in hand and they were operated as an estate enterprise by him and successive owners of the estate until 1776. Foley was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1696.

Family

Foley married Mary Strode with whom he fathered seven children, five of them predeceasing their parents. His only surviving son was Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley, after whose death the title became extinct, while the estates devolved upon the latter's distant cousin Thomas Foley of

Stoke Edith Stoke Edith is a village in the English county of Herefordshire, situated on the A438 road between Hereford and Ledbury. The population in 1801 of Stoke Edith parish was 332. The 14th-century church of St Mary is a grade I listed building. ...

, Herefordshire, for whom the title was revived in 1776.

References

* Stuart Handley, 'Foley, Thomas, first Baron Foley (1673–1733)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 200
Retrieved 2 March 2008
* ''Burkes Peerage''. 1673 births 1733 deaths Members of Lincoln's Inn Peers of Great Britain created by Queen Anne Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Stafford English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1710–1713

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 A ...

Fellows of the Royal Society 1 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Stafford Members of the Parliament of England for Droitwich {{1698-England-MP-stub