ON Friday, March 9, Roy Peacock came to talk about the 17th-century Foleys. Using just a family tree, Roy gave an enthusiastic account of the rise of the Foley family, taking us through the extraordinary characters and their intriguing personal details and their achievements.

The 17th-century Foleys came from the Black Country. Between Stourbridge and Malvern was the Foley country, Malvern being added for good measure in about 1740.

Roy felt that the Foleys were an important family in national history and that they deserved to be credited for more than they were. Thomas Foley, of Kidderminster, was dubbed a Lord by Queen Anne in 1712 and Richard Foley of Dudley was elected Mayor of Dudley at the age of 36. He knew the iron business inside out. A keen puritan, he had to provide cannon for the king although he sympathised with Parliamentarians.

He had a vision for improving schools and so built a new school and also built an almshouse for the poor. He married twice, fathered 13 children over 27 years and moved from Dudley to Stourbridge in 1630.

By his death in 1657 the family ironworks accounted for more than half the West Midlands production and around a third of the total for England and Wales.

The most important Foley was Thomas who provided ironworks in the 1640s and who bought Witley Court and village and turned Witley into a palace.

He bought property in Kidderminster too but was different from other members of the Foleys because he also went to London and entered politics. His sons were exceptional people. Paul was the best of the Parliamentarians and was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. In fact eight Foleys were in the House of Commons in the 1690s.

In short, the Foleys, whose family motto was “that I may do good”, certainly did a lot of good, founding schools, creating jobs and using their wealth and vision to help others.

Roy summarised the family tree by telling us that the eighth Lord Foley died in February 2012 in his eighties and that there is a new Lord Foley who is in his late fifties, living in Thailand.

On civic society business, chairman Roger Sutton covered items such as the plans for Civic Week and the visit to Brussels in October to see the European Parliament.

We also had a brief presentation from Chris Kirk on the work of Community Action for Malvern District and urging anyone who has some available time to support this worthwhile venture.

The next meeting of the Civic Society will be held at Christ Church, Avenue Road, on Friday, April 13, when Nick Vincent will be talking about the Three Counties Showground, starting at 7.30pm.

Information on forthcoming events, details are listed in the March News sheet or on the website malverncivicsociety.

org.uk.

Anyone wishing to join the Civic Society, please contact membership secretary Alan Hudson on 01684- 893837.

DENISE PRESTON