Richard Foley ( -1684)
1678 Richard Foley IV had been trained by his father and inherited the north Staffordshire iron works from his father, Richard Foley (1614-1678). Philip II and other interested parties made an agreement to resolve the outstanding debts and enabled Richard IV to establish his ownership.
The businesses were becoming very widely dispersed as more ironworks were leased, and new partners were brought in. Raw materials, pig iron, and wrought iron were moved further in the course of production, numerous customers expected extended credit and frequently paid by bills of exchange. This caused problems with management and logistics; accounting required sophisticated solutions.
1684 Richard died and his heir was his uncle, John Foley (1631-1684), the youngest son of Richard Foley II. When John Foley died in November the same year, the ironworks were inherited by Henry Glover senior, his brother-in-law, who had been manager of the Stour works. For a while, the Cheshire works were transferred to the Yorkshire ironmasters, but they were back in Foley hands by 1696.
John Wheeler of Wollaston, Stourbridge, took over the Moorland works, with Obadiah Lane as manager, the partners being Wheeler, Lane, and Philip Foley II. These works were well placed between the expanding industrial areas of north and south Staffordshire, where most of the bar and rod iron was sold.