Paul Foley (ironmaster)
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Paul Foley (died 1698) (also known as Speaker Foley) was the second son of Thomas Foley of Witley Court the prominent Midlands 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.
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.
Paul Foley entered politics and was a member of important Parliamentary committees during the reign of William III, and was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in 1695, a post he held until his death. He was, like his brother in law Robert Harley, one of the Country Whigs, and like him had a Presbyterian background.
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