advice on many and important occasions during the battle’ (Nicolas, Nelson Despatches, iv. 304, 315). Immediately after the battle Nelson went back to the St. George, and the Elephant, continuing attached to the fleet, returned to England in the autumn, when she was paid off. In September 1805, when Nelson was going out to resume the command of the fleet off Cadiz, he called on Foley and offered him the post of captain of the fleet. Foley's health, however, would not at that time permit him to serve afloat, and he was obliged to refuse (Herbert, p. 41). On 28 April 1808 he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and in 1811 was appointed commander-in-chief in the Downs, in which post he continued till the peace. On 12 Aug. 1812 he became a vice-admiral; was nominated a K.C.B. in January 1815, a G.C.B. on 6 May 1820, and attained the rank of admiral on 27 May 1825. In May 1830 he was appointed commander-in-chief at Portsmouth, where he died 9 Jan. 1833. He was buried in the Garrison Chapel, in a coffin made of some fragments of oak kept from his old ship Elephant when she was broken up.
Foley married, in July 1802, Lady Lucy Fitzgerald, youngest daughter of the Duke of Leinster, and cousin, on the mother's side, of Sir Charles and Sir William Napier. During his married life he had lived for the most part at Abermarlais, an estate in Carmarthenshire, which he purchased about 1795, apparently with his share of a rich Spanish prize which had been the subject of a very singular law case (ib. p. 16). He left no issue, and after his death Lady Lucy resided principally at Arundel till 1841, when she moved to the south of France, where, in the neighbourhood of Marseilles, she died in her eightieth year in 1851. Foley is described as ‘above six feet in height, of a fine presence and figure, with light brown hair, blue eyes of a gentle expression, and a mouth combining firmness with good humour’ (ib. p. 40). His portrait by Sir William Beechey is now in the possession of Mr. H. Foley Vernon of Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire; an engraved copy is prefixed to Herbert's ‘Memoir.’
[Life and Services of Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, by J. B. Herbert (Cardiff, 1884, reprinted with additions from the Red Dragon, vol. v.); Marshall's Royal Naval Biography, i. 363; Nicolas's Nelson Despatches.]
FOLIOT, GILBERT (d. 1188), bishop successively of Hereford and London, was born early in the twelfth century, as in 1170 he is described by a chronicler as grandævus. He was of a Norman family which had been settled in England from the Conquest, and was related to the Earls of Hereford. It appears that some of his connections were among the Normans who had acquired estates in Scotland. Hence Dean Milman conjectures he may have been a Scotchman, but incorrectly (Latin Christ. vol. iii.). The earliest fact known about him is his profession as a monk in the famous monastery of Clugny, where he must have been under Peter the Venerable, the great antagonist of St. Bernard. Foliot rose to the rank of prior of this house of three hundred monks, from which post he was promoted to the headship of the affiliated house of Abbeville, and from this to the abbacy of Gloucester. A letter from Hugh of Clugny to him lauds his religion, wisdom, and eloquence as the honour of the church of God, and felicitates the church of Clugny, which was thought worthy to have such a son (Materials for Life of Becket, v. 30). In 1148 Foliot was promoted to the bishopric of Hereford, which he held for about sixteen years. In the vast mass of materials now collected for the illustration of the life of Becket there are abundant notices of the character of Foliot, his great antagonist. The testimony of all these is that he was the most remarkable among all the bishops of England for his learning, eloquence, and great austerities, and that he was very high in favour with Henry II, who used him as his most trusted counsellor. They are also unanimous in declaring that he aspired to the primacy, which is probably true, in spite of the disclaimer which Foliot afterwards made of this ambition. There is a letter to him from Pope Alexander III, written in a very laudatory strain, and earnestly cautioning him against too great austerities, lest by the failure of his health the church of God should suffer grievous loss (ib. v. 44). When in 1161 the Bishop of London became imbecile, the king proposed to Foliot to administer the diocese, finding what was necessary for the support of the bishop, and paying over the balance to him. This Foliot declined, as being ‘perilous to his soul,’ and begged the king to excuse him from the charge (ib. v. 15). The turning-point in Foliot's career was his opposition to the election of Becket at Westminster, May 1162. This is recorded by all Becket's biographers, but with varying circumstances. There is no doubt that Becket was held, at the time of his election, by the English churchmen generally as altogether a king's man, and as one likely to oppress the church. Foliot, it appears, was the only one who had the courage of his opinions. There may have been jealousy at the bottom,
