Family and Education

b. ?1695, 1st s. of Thomas Foley. educ. Hereford; Trinity, Camb. 18 Sept. 1711, aged 16. m. (1) Hester (d. 1717), da. and h. of Thomas Andrews of St. Mary-at-Hill, London, 2s.; (2) Mary (d. Jan. 1721), da. of John Warters of Barbados, 1s. 1da.; (3) Elizabeth (d. 1725), da. of Henry Wolstenholme, 1s.; (4) 1731, Elizabeth, da. of Robert Unitt of Birchwood, Herefs., s.p.; (5) 24 May 1744 (with £10,000), Catherine, da. of Francis Gwyn, s.p. suc. fa. 1737.

Offices Held

Biography

After contesting Weobley unsuccessfully in 1718, Foley in 1722 stood for Hereford in succession to his father, but withdrew before the poll. Returned as a Tory for Hereford at the head of the poll in 1734, he voted with the Opposition. He did not stand at the general election of 1741 but shortly afterwards was returned for Herefordshire in place of his cousin, Edward Harley jun., who had succeeded to the earldom of Oxford. In this Parliament also he voted consistently with the Opposition, signing the opposition ‘whip’ of November 1743.1 In 1747 he stood down in favour of Lord Oxford’s son and heir. He died 3 Apr. 1749.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: A. N. Newman

Notes

• 1. Owen, Pelhams, 198.