Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (8 August 1716 – 18 November 1777), was a British landowner and politician.

Early life

Foley was the son of Thomas Foley MP and his wife Hester (née Andrews) Foley and was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

(1724–732) and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

(from 1732). The Foley family descended from the prominent ironmaster Thomas Foley.

Career

He succeeded his father in 1749, inheriting the

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. ...

estate in Herefordshire. Foley was also the cousin, namesake and heir of Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley (a title which became extinct on the latter's death in 1766), thus also inheriting

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

and the extensive Great Witley estate. This included 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 ...

, which were leased about at the end of his life. Stoke in Herefordshire Vit Brit

He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

for Droitwich in 1741, a constituency he represented until 1746 and again from 1754 to 1768, followed by election to represent

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

between 1768 and 1776. The latter year the title previously held by his cousin was revived when Foley was raised to the peerage as Baron Foley of Kidderminster in the County of Worcester.

Personal life

Lord Foley married Grace (d. 1769), daughter of

George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne PC (9 March 1666 – 29 January 1735), of Stowe, Cornwall, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 until 1712, when he was raised to the peerage as Baro ...

, in 1740. They had seven children: * Thomas Foley, 2nd Baron Foley (1742–1793), to whose family he devised the Great Witley estate. * Hon. Grace Foley (1743–1813), who married James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil, in 1774. * Hon.

Edward Foley (1747–1803) Edward Foley (16 March 1747 – 22 June 1803) was the second son of Thomas, 1st Lord Foley. Like his brother, he was profligate with the great family wealth. His father's will settled the paternal estate at Stoke Edith, Herefordshire together ...

, to whose family he devised his paternal

estate. * Hon. Andrew Foley (–1816), to whose family he devised the

Newent Newent (; originally called "Noent") is a market town and civil parish in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The town is north-west of Gloucester. Its population was 5,073 at the 2001 census, rising to 5,207 in 2011, The population ...

estate. * Hon. Anne Foley (d. 1794), who married Sir Edward Winnington, 2nd Baronet in 1776. * Hon. Elizabeth Foley (–1776) * Hon. Mary Foley (d. 1844), who married Richard Clerk. Foley died in November 1777, aged 61. He was succeeded in the barony by the eldest son, Thomas.

References

* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * Will of 1st Lord Foley
www.thepeerage.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Thomas Foley (1716-1777), 1st Baron 1716 births 1777 deaths People from Malvern Hills District People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Peers of Great Britain created by George III Politicians from Worcestershire Politics of Herefordshire English ironmasters 18th-century English businesspeople Foley, Thomas British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780

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 ...