Adrian Foley, 8th Baron Foley explained

Adrian Gerald Foley, 8th Baron Foley of Kidderminster (9 August 1923 – 12 February 2012[1]), was a British peer, composer and pianist.

Upon the death of his father, Gerald Foley, 7th Baron Foley, in 1927, Adrian Foley succeeded to his title at the age of three. He wrote London I Cannot Leave You (1940) at the age of 17, having spent his childhood in Eastbourne. In 1942, he supported Britain's Soviet ally with the composition of the song, "Wishing You Well, Mr Stalin". He composed music for the films Piccadilly Incident (1946) and Bond Street (1947). He appeared on an episode of the American game show To Tell the Truth in 1957.

Personal life

In 1958, he met a wealthy American heiress, Patricia Meek, née Zoelner, during a stage production of Jane Eyre, produced by Huntington Hartford in New York City. On 23 December 1958, the couple married. They had two children: Alexandra Mary (born 1960) and Thomas Henry (born 1961), before divorcing in 1971. In 1972, he married another wealthy heiress, Ghislaine (née Dresselhuys; former wife of both the 6th Earl of Caledon and the 4th Baron Ashcombe), the only daughter of Dutch-born Long Island resident and former Consul of the Netherlands in London, Cornelius William Dresselhuys and Edith Merandon du Plessis. His second wife died in 2000. On 15 December 2003, he married his third wife, Hannah Steinberg, a member of the Wolfson family.

Death

Lord Foley enjoyed golf and maintained properties near to the golfing areas of the Andalusian region of Spain for several decades. He owned property in Belgravia, London, and lived in retirement near Marbella until his death in Kidderminster in 2012, aged 88.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: FOLEY - Death Announcements. https://web.archive.org/web/20120227102720/http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/145339/foley. dead. 27 February 2012. Telegraph.co.uk. 2012-02-14.