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FOLEY, Thomas (?1670-1737), of Stoke Edith Court, Herefs.
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Biography Detail
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Constituency
Dates
Family and Education
b. ?1670, 1st s. of Paul Foley, M.P., and bro. of Paul Foley. educ. Pemb. Oxf. 16 Oct. 1685, aged 15; I. Temple 1688. m. 12 July 1688, his 1st cos. Anne, da. and h. of Essex Knightley of Fawsley, Northants., 1s. 2da. suc. fa. 1699.
Offices Held
Ld. of Trade 1712-13; jt. auditor of the imprest 1713-d.
Biography
Returned as a Tory for Hereford, Foley was made joint auditor of the imprest for life by his cousin by marriage, Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, the other auditor being Edward Harley. After the Hanoverian accession he voted consistently with the Opposition, speaking against the impeachment of Lord Oxford in June 1715. In February 1718, Lord Mar, the Pretender’s secretary of state, suggested that he should be asked for money for a project to restore the Stuarts with the help of Swedish troops (see Caesar, Charles).1 Transferring to Stafford in 1722 to maintain his family’s interest there, he ‘spoke to nothing else but’ praise of Lord Oxford’s ministry,2 in a debate on the treaty of Hanover in February 1726. He did not stand again till 1734, when he was returned once more for Stafford. He died 10 Dec. 1737, aged 67.
