Thomas Foley was the eldest son of the second marriage (to Alice Brindley) of Richard Foley

Richard Foley (ironmaster)

Richard Foley was a prominent English ironmaster. He is best known from the folktale of "Fiddler Foley", which is either not correct or does not apply to him.Richard was the son of another Richard Foley, a nailer at Dudley...

 (1588–1657), a prominent Midlands

West Midlands (region)

The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...

 ironmaster. He took over his father's business and made great profits from it in the 1650s and 1660s, which he used to buy estates. He then handed his business over to his sons, another Thomas Foley, Paul Foley

Paul Foley (ironmaster)

Paul Foley , also known as Speaker Foley, was the second son of Thomas Foley of Witley Court, the prominent Midlands ironmaster.-Ironmaster:...

, and Philip Foley

Philip Foley

Philip Foley was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley . His father transferred to him in 1668 and 1669 all his ironworks in the Midlands for £60,000...

. He built Witley Court

Witley Court

Witley Court in Worcestershire, England is a Grade 1 listed building and was once one of the great houses of the Midlands, but today it is a spectacular ruin after being devastated by fire in 1937. It was built by Thomas Foley in 1655 on the site of a former manor house near Great Witley...

. In the late 1660s, he founded a bluecoat

Bluecoat

The bluecoat is a style of dress code, traditionally worn in Bluecoat schools .The main element of the bluecoat is a long coat, belted at the waist, with white neck decoration...

 school at Stourbridge

Stourbridge

Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...

 known as Old Swinford Hospital

Old Swinford Hospital

Old Swinford Hospital is a selective voluntary aided boys' boarding school in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England that has been in continuous operation since the 17th century.- History :Old Swinford Hospital opened in the late summer of 1667...

, which he endowed in his will.