Paul Foley (ironmaster)

Speaker Foley

Paul Foley (1644/5 – 13 November 1699), also known as Speaker Foley, was the second son of Thomas Foley of Witley Court,^[1] the prominent Midlands ironmaster.

Ironmaster

He took over his father's ironworks in and around the Forest of Dean in the early 1670s and continued them until 1685 when he let them to John Wheeler and Richard Avenant, who had managed ironworks for his brother Philip Foley. In 1692, the two brothers entered into a partnership with these managers and John Wheeler's brother, Richard. This lasted until after Paul's death.^[2]

Gentleman

Stoke Edith House – built by Paul Foley.

Paul Foley had the resources from his father and the profits of his ironworks to buy himself a substantial estate around Stoke Edith in Herefordshire, part of which still belongs to a descendant. Important purchases included Stoke Edith from the trustees of Sir Henry Lingen in 1670 (made by his father),^[3] and other property from Sir Thomas Cooke in 1683.^[4] He rebuilt the house at Stoke Edith and laid out formal gardens and a park (which he had a royal licence to empark.^[3]^[5]

Politician

Paul Foley was elected M.P. for Hereford in 1679. He was elected again for the same seat in 1689.^[6] He actively campaigned for the exclusion of the Duke of York from the throne. He was imprisoned at the time of the Rye House Plot and again during the Monmouth Rebellion. However, James II later favoured him during his own later difficulties. During the reign of William III took an anti-court position, establishing Country Whigs with his nephew Robert Harley. During the early 1690s, he sat on several important Parliamentary committees, including being a commissioner of accounts. He was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in 1695, a post he held until his death.^[5] He was (like the Harleys and his elder brother Thomas) a Presbyterian and used his patronage rights in the church to appoint clergy of that persuasion to churches.^[7]

Family

He married Mary daughter of Alderman John Lane of London. Their eldest son was Thomas Foley. His younger son Paul,^[1] was also briefly an MP.^[6]

References

1 2 Burke's Peerage
↑ Schafer, R. G. (1971). "Genesis and Structure of the Foley 'Ironworks in Partnership' of 1692". Business History. 13: 19. doi:10.1080/00076797100000002.
1 2 Stoke Edith Park, Hereford, England. Parks and Gardens UK
↑ Archenfield Archaeology Ltd, Swan House, Tarrington, Herefordshire: archaeological monitoring and building recording (2001), 5, citing Herefordshire Record Office, E12/IV/163/5 Archaeological Data Service.
1 2 Newton E. Key, 'Foley, Paul (1644/5–1699)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2008 , accessed 1 September 2009
1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
↑ John Trevor Cliffe, The Puritan gentry besieged, 1650–1700 (1993), pp. 103–8.

Political offices
Preceded by Sir John Trevor	Speaker of the House of Commons 1695–1698	Succeeded by Sir Thomas Littleton
Parliament of England
Preceded by Herbert Westfaling The Viscount Scudamore	Member of Parliament for Hereford 1679–1685 With: Bridstock Harford 1679–1681 Herbert Aubrey 1681–1685	Succeeded by Herbert Aubrey Thomas Geers
Preceded by Herbert Aubrey Thomas Geers	Member of Parliament for Hereford 1689–1699 With: Sir William Gregory 1689 Henry Cornewall 1689–1695 James Morgan 1695–1698 James Brydges 1698–1699	Succeeded by James Brydges Samuel Pytts

Speakers of the House of Commons

House of Commons
of England

14th century	Hungerford De la Mare Pickering Guildesborough Waldegrave Pickering Bussy Cheney Doreward Savage Redford Savage
15th century	Esturmy Tiptoft Chaucer Stourton Doreward Hungerford Chaucer Redman Beauchamp Flower Hunt Chaucer Baynard Flower Russell Walton Vernon Tyrell Alington, Sr. Tyrell Russell Hunt Bowes Tyrell Burley W. Tresham Burley W. Tresham Say Popham I W. Tresham Oldhall Thorpe Charlton Wenlock T. Tresham Green Strangeways Say Alington Jr. Wood Catesby Lovell Mordaunt Fitzwilliam Empson Drury Englefield
16th century	Dudley Englefield Sheffield Nevill More Audley Wingfield Rich Hare Moyle Baker Dyer Pollard Broke Higham Cordell Gargrave T. Williams Onslow Wray Bell Popham II Puckering Snagge Coke Yelverton
17th century	Croke Phelips R. Crewe Richardson T. Crewe H. Finch J. Finch Glanville Lenthall Pelham Lenthall Rous (Barebones Parliament) Lenthall Widdrington (2nd Protectorate Parliament) Chute, Long & Bampfield (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Lenthall Grimston Turnour Charlton Seymour Sawyer Seymour Gregory W. Williams Trevor Powle Trevor Foley Littleton
18th century	Harley Smith

House of Commons
of Great Britain

18th century	Smith R. Onslow Bromley Hanmer Compton A. Onslow Cust Norton Cornwall Grenville Addington

House of Commons
of the United Kingdom

19th century	Addington Mitford Abbot Manners-Sutton Abercromby Shaw-Lefevre Denison Brand Peel Gully
20th century	Lowther Whitley FitzRoy Brown Morrison Hylton-Foster King Lloyd Thomas Weatherill Boothroyd
21st century	Martin Bercow

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