Henry Foley
Encyclopedia
Brother Henry Foley, S.J., (9 August 1811 – 19 November 1891) was an English Jesuit Roman Catholic church historian.
in Worcestershire
, England
on 9 August 1811. His father was the Protestant curate
in charge at Astley. After his early education at home and at a private school at Woodchester
, Henry was articled to a firm of solicitor
s in Worcester
, and in course of time practised as a solicitor, at first in partnership with another, then by himself.
Under the influence of the Oxford Movement
he was led to embrace the Catholic faith in 1846, and five years later, on the death of his wife Anne, daughter of John Vezard of Gloucestershire, he sought admission as a lay brother
into the Society of Jesus
. Urged to enter as a scholastic
and to prepare for the priesthood, he said it was Our Lady
's wish that he should be a lay brother. For thirty years he occupied the post of lay brother socius to the English provincial superior
.
During that time he produced his gigantic work, The Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus (8 octavo volumes), a compilation of immense labour and original research and an invaluable store of historical detail put together with a persevering assiduity rarely found even in the most painstaking of historians. Brother Foley deserves to share with Father Henry More
the title of historian of the Society. He also wrote Jesuits in Conflict, a work describing the sufferings of some of the English Jesuit confessors of the Faith.
As a religious, Brother Foley was a model of every virtue. His bodily austerities were remarkable, while his spirit of prayer led him at all free moments to the chapel.
He died at Manresa House, Roehampton, 19 November 1891.
Biography
He was born at AstleyAstley, Worcestershire
Astley is a village, and a civil parish in Worcestershire, England, about seven miles south-west of Kidderminster.A range of English white wines including sparkling wines have been produced in Astley since 1983...
in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on 9 August 1811. His father was the Protestant curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
in charge at Astley. After his early education at home and at a private school at Woodchester
Woodchester
Woodchester is a Gloucestershire village in the Nailsworth Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds in England, running southwards from Stroud along the A46 road to Nailsworth....
, Henry was articled to a firm of solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s in Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, and in course of time practised as a solicitor, at first in partnership with another, then by himself.
Under the influence of the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
he was led to embrace the Catholic faith in 1846, and five years later, on the death of his wife Anne, daughter of John Vezard of Gloucestershire, he sought admission as a lay brother
Lay brother
In the most common usage, lay brothers are those members of Catholic religious orders, particularly of monastic orders, occupied primarily with manual labour and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary, in contrast to the choir monks of the same monastery who are devoted mainly to the...
into the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
. Urged to enter as a scholastic
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
and to prepare for the priesthood, he said it was Our Lady
Our Lady
As a general concept, Our Lady may refer to:*Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth*Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic teachings...
's wish that he should be a lay brother. For thirty years he occupied the post of lay brother socius to the English provincial superior
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
.
During that time he produced his gigantic work, The Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus (8 octavo volumes), a compilation of immense labour and original research and an invaluable store of historical detail put together with a persevering assiduity rarely found even in the most painstaking of historians. Brother Foley deserves to share with Father Henry More
Father Henry More
-Biography:He was the great-grandson of the martyred English chancellor Thomas More.Henry was born in 1586; died at Watten in 1661. Having studied at St...
the title of historian of the Society. He also wrote Jesuits in Conflict, a work describing the sufferings of some of the English Jesuit confessors of the Faith.
As a religious, Brother Foley was a model of every virtue. His bodily austerities were remarkable, while his spirit of prayer led him at all free moments to the chapel.
He died at Manresa House, Roehampton, 19 November 1891.
Works
- Jesuits in Conflict. London: Burns and Oates (1873)
- Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, Vol. I. London: Burns and Oates (1877)
- Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, Vol. II. London: Manresa Press (1875)
- Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, Vol. III. London: Burns and Oates (1878)