Fonds F1847 - Foley family fonds

Descended from Irish, Roman Catholic stock, Declan Foley arrived via Chicago, in the newly settled community of Westport, Canada West, in the early 1850's. He soon established a general store and by the following decade, he had begun, along with several other family members, a thriving mercantile, forwarding, and pharmacy business. With his store located on the banks of Upper Rideau Lake, he was able to provide service to both the agricultural/lumbering and Rideau Canal shipping communities. For nearly seventy years D. Foley and Co. was an important member of Westport's commercial life.

John Protaise Foley, a son of Declan's, opened a law office in Westport, following his graduation from Osgoode Hall in Toronto. For over forty years he maintained a successful general practice, engaging primarily in real estate and estate law. Following his death in 1942, his sister Ursula carried on his affairs, and those of the general store for a lenghty period, as she slowly wound down both interests.

James Foley, a brother of John's, aspired to a clerkship in the Senate, in his early years. Over time his efforts were rewarded as he finally attained the position of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery for Canada, a post he held through the first two decades of the twentieth century. As such, his name appeared as the author of many publications dealing with federal elections and their attendant electoral maps.