1845 –01/01/1901
Born in Ireland; Berkhamsted School's first Physical Instructor. "In every sense a good man."
Relatives
Research:
JOHN FOLEY; c.1843 – 1901
John Foley, born in Ireland and having previously served in the Army, was the first gymnasium instructor at Berkhamsted School. He was appointed in 1889 by the then Headmaster the Rev. Dr Thomas Fry. Fry was a committed and successful Headmaster who initiated various improvements at the school, including the launching of a fund for the construction of a school chapel and gymnasium. Two new iron buildings were purchased for use as a gymnasium and a temporary chapel and opened in 1890.
Exhibitions took place in the gymnasium, the proceeds from the sale of tickets being devoted to the clearing of the debt that had been incurred in building the gymnasium. The first such exhibition, an “Assault-at-Arms” was held in 1891 a year after the gymnasium had opened. As the name suggests, whilst displays of gymnastic prowess such as performances on parallel and horizontal bars and vaulting were included, many of the exercises were of a martial nature, including boxing, quarter staff and melee, single sticks, fencing and sword exercises. John participated in these exhibitions. For example, in 1891 he performed on the horizontal bars and took part in fencing; in the 1897 Assault-at-Arms he again took part on the horizontal bars and fencing, also parallel bars and vaulting.
One Old Boy, recalling his time at the school wrote of John:
“In those days we were instructed by one Sergt. Foley, whose brogue sounded like an unknown tongue to the new boy. He used to wear a very thick long-sleeved, reddish pink vest and flannel trousers, finished off with a gym. belt of his own choice.”
And another reminisced in 1943:
“On wet half holidays all boarders, senior and junior, went to Gym. From 2.30 to 4 o’clock. That meant, of course, apparatus such as parallel bars and rings, horizontal bars, horse, for the modern form of physical exercise had not yet been introduced. We were formed into classes; Sgt. Foley took one, a perfect gymnast another, and we did desultory exercises and made ourselves as much of a nuisance as possible. A normal punishment on these occasions was to ‘do so many bridge ladders’ and one then attempted to jump up to the ladder as far from the wall as possible and fall off the other end as soon as possible. If Foley spotted you, you were condemned to do it again, but I don’t think he enjoyed the afternoon either.”
Another of Dr Fry’s innovations was the formation in 1891 of the Berkhamsted School Rifle Volunteer Corps (the forerunner of todays Combined Cadet Force). Perhaps unsurprisingly, given John’s earlier military service, he was also instructor to the corps. Twice a week “…a select band of juniors, paying extra for the privilege was drilled by Gym. Sergeant Foley and even carried broomsticks to do manual exercise.”
When the Corps held its first Field Day in 1892, John was in command of the band, which was sent out to represent the enemy. John and the band put up spirited resistance. “Many casualties occurred among the attacking force owing to men not being sufficiently careful to keep under cover. The enemy (i.e. John and the band) finally took up a strong position in a spinney foiling an attempt to cut off their retreat but surrounded by the attacking force was forced to surrender.”
John resigned his post as instructor to the Cadet Corps in 1893 and his place was filled by Sergt.-Major Ballam.
Whilst the information gleaned from the school archive paints a vivid picture of John during his time at the school, the further we go back in his life, the less information we have. We can say with certainty that John was born in Ireland (and evidently given the quotation above, he never lost his accent) as he recorded that fact on the only definite census return we have for him, that of 1891. Sadly, however, he does not tell us where in Ireland he was born. He gave his age in the 1891 census as 45 years. That would give him a date of birth between 6th April 1845 and 5th April 1846. That is corroborated by the fact that when he married in 1876 his age was given as 31 years and a newspaper report of his funeral which was held on 5th January 1901, noted that his coffin carried “a brass plate bearing the inscription ‘John Foley age 56.’ Both of which also give a date of birth in 1845.
We also know from John’s marriage certificate that his father (who had died before the date of the marriage) was Jeremiah Foley and he had been a farmer. Irish parish baptism records document the baptism of a John Foley, the son of “Jerh” [Jeremiah] Foley and Catherine (née) Donovan, which took place in the parish of Bandon, Cork on 9th July 1845.
John married on 25th March 1876. The marriage took place in Alverstoke, a neighbourhood near Gosport, in Hampshire where his bride, Jane Brockway came from. John and Jane had eight children altogether.
At the time of his marriage, John was a sergeant in the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot, but he was evidently a skilled gymnast as he subsequently became a Sergeant-Major instructor on the Army Gymnastic Staff (“AGS”) at Aldershot.
The AGS was introduced as part of measures following the Crimean War to improve the fitness of British soldiers. Members of the AGS were based at Aldershot and other military gymnasiums that were built. They trained soldiers in fencing, gymnastics and other elements of physical exercise in addition to organising recreational sports. As a result, sickness and mortality rates in the Army dropped and the reforms were approved in the 1864 Report on Gymnastic Instruction in the Army.
It is not clear exactly when John left the Army. The first of John’s children, Mary Jane, was born on 22nd November 1877 at the Shorncliffe Camp in Kent and John is noted on her Baptism record as being a “soldier”, so he was clearly still serving then. The next child, Margaret, was born c.1881 in Ireland. The 58th Foot did spend some time in Ireland, so John may have still been in the Army at that date.
On leaving the Army, John put his gymnastic skills to good use. He became the instructor of Watford and Hemel Hempstead gymnastic clubs before being appointed as the first gym instructor at Berkhamsted School in 1889. We know from the places of birth of the couple’s next four children that the family moved around the area of south west Hertfordshire and north west London; John was born c.1884 in Hemel Hempstead; Joseph, c. 1886 in Watford: Dora, c.1888 and Agnes c.1890 were both born in Harrow. On becoming gym instructor at Berkhamsted School, the family moved to Berkhamsted and settled at 53 Kitsbury Road. Two further children were born in Berkhamsted, both daughters, Cecilia in c.1894 and Hilda, c.1898.
John died early in January 1901 of pneumonia. John’s funeral took place on 5th January and was conducted by Father Hardy, a Roman Catholic priest from Boxmoor. The coffin was draped with the Union Jack and the funeral took place before a large company of mourners, including “…the bereaved widow, who was much distressed, and her eight children, one an infant in arms.”
The last word should perhaps go to Dr Fry:
“During the Christmas holidays Sergeant Foley developed pneumonia and sank after a few days’ illness. The news of his death came as a great grief to us all. He had been our first gymnasium instructor, and had been here ever since 1889. He knew everyone well by name and face; he worked hard for the School; he was loyal to his chief, always ready to lend a hand in work that was not his, if thereby he could help us. We all greatly respected him, and his death has been felt as a personal loss to us all. He was in every sense a good man.”
However, in contradiction to that, the same paper carried a notice of his death which gave his age as 59 and St Peter’s Church burial record also notes his age as being 59. That would put his put his date of birth in 1843.