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Lady Emily Foley

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Lady Emily Foley
Born
Emily Graham

(1805-06-23)23 June 1805
Died1 January 1900(1900-01-01) (aged 94)
SpouseEdward Thomas Foley
Parent(s)James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, Lady Caroline Montagu

Lady Emily Foley (23 June 1805 – 1 January 1900) was a major landowner and benefactress in nineteenth-century England.

She was born Lady Emily Graham, the daughter of James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose and Duchess of Montrose in 1805.

In 1832, she married The Hon. Edward Foley, who was fourteen years her senior. On his death in 1846, she gained control of extensive estates in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Staffordshire. She also became Lady of the Manor of Wednesbury and of Great Malvern.[1] The inherited estate in the 1883 generated close to £15,000 a year.[2]

She presided over the rapid growth of Great Malvern during the middle of the nineteenth century. She placed many restrictions on building in the town, ensuring that all houses were well spaced, had large gardens, and maintained many trees. Her family name of Graham provided the name of Graham Road in the centre of the town, with its many large Victorian houses, including the Montrose Hotel.[1] She was also a substantial benefactress of many churches and schools in Great Malvern.

Lady Foley's Tea Rooms at Great Malvern railway station. They used to be the private waiting room of Lady Emily Foley who owned the land that the station was built on.
Stoke Edith House

When a railway line was to be built from Malvern to Hereford across land she owned, she insisted that cuttings be excavated so that the unsightly trains could not be seen. She had a waiting room built for her own use at Malvern station, so that whilst waiting for the ongoing train to London she did not have to wait with the common people, This room became known as Lady Foley’s Tea Room.[3]

She left no children and her husband's will made Lady Emily free to dispose the Stoke Edith estate in Herefordshire and extensive lands to whomever she chose but instead she allowed it to pass to her husband's great-nephew Paul Henry Foley of Prestwood, Staffordshire.

Arms

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Coat of arms of Lady Emily Foley
Escutcheon
Edward Foley, grandson of Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (Argent a fess engrailed between three cinquefoils Sable all within a bordure Sable) impaling James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose (Quarterly 1st & 4th Or on a chief Sable three escallops Or 2nd & 3rd Argent three roses Gules barbed and seeded Proper).[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hurle, Pamela (2012). Malvern Women of Note. Aspect Design. pp. 19–25. ISBN 978-1-908832-18-4.
  2. ^ Bateman, John (1883). The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland; a list of all owners of three thousand acres and upwards ... also, one thousand three hundred owners of two thousand acres and upwards in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, their acreage and income from land culled from The modern Domesday book . Robarts - University of Toronto. London, Harrison.
  3. ^ "Stoke Edith House History | Herefordshire Past". herefordshirepast.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  4. ^ Burke's Peerage. 1878.