The Seventeenth Century Foleys: Iron, Wealth and Vision 1580 - 1716 (revised) by Roy Peacock
 
This book is about the Foley dynasty and the fortune that originated with its patriarch Richard Foley, born in Dudley in 1580. Richard followed in his father’s footsteps and entered the iron trade as a nailer, but over the years made the transition to ironmaster and acquired a number of forges and furnaces in and around Dudley and Stourbridge. He was a respected member of the community in Dudley being elected Mayor at the age of 36 and building an almshouse for the poor. He married twice, fathered 13 children over 27 years and moved from Dudley to Stourbridge in 1630. By the time of 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 need for a re-print prompted the author to add a few extras that came to light after the first edition was published