ONE OF THE GREAT entrepreneurs who brought jobs and prosperity to Bourne in years past was Ernest Foley, a man who died prematurely almost 90 years ago and is now largely forgotten. 

The location of Bourne in the middle of a farming area was ideal for an engineer in the burgeoning industry of agricultural machinery and during the late 19th century Foley saw it as a great opportunity. When Arnold Pick died and his business at No 30 North Street came up for sale, he and his elder brother George bought it and in April 1891, moved from Driffield in Yorkshire to begin their new career. 

Pick had established a sound reputation as an ironmonger and blacksmith and was also interested in agricultural machinery, but only in a small way, and it was this that the brothers began to expand and eventually made it one of the biggest enterprises of its kind in Lincolnshire.  

George died in the spring of 1903 at the age of 34, when Ernest became sole proprietor and by the early 20th century, he was a familiar figure at the region's agricultural shows and soon had business connections in all parts of the country. He was also an engineer of some skill and was the inventor and manufacturer of a straw elevator, the height of which exceeded that of any other make on the market and was therefore in great demand.  

The ironmongery department continued at No 30 North Street as a separate undertaking under the direction of a new partner, Henry Butler, while Foley developed and sold threshing machines, concentrating this side of the business at premises in Meadowgate which he expanded considerably. In 1920, he bought a massive 80 feet long World War I balloon hangar from the War Department for £400 after it had been declared redundant at the Royal Air Force base at Wittering, near Stamford. It was dismantled and moved by road to Bourne in sections, an operation that was not without its difficulties because the load was the longest ever known to have been transported in this part of the country, the sections including two roof trusses 115ft. long and two doors 30ft. high but the consignment arrived safely and the hangar re-erected on site where it was used as a sales and display area. 

Ernest Foley took no part in the public life of the town and had no ambition to serve as a councillor although he was keenly interested in its growth and progress and helped whenever he could. He was a staunch Methodist and loyal supporter of the chapel in Abbey Road where he was appointed a trustee in 1897.  

The chapel at this time was lit with oil lamps and candles but in 1907, ever ready to help financially, Foley paid for them to be replaced by gas lighting and the proposed change was recorded in the minutes of a meeting of the trustees on February 6th: "Mr Foley made a provisional offer to re-light the chapel with incandescent burners. It was decided that it be carried out and to have the schoolroom fitted up in the same way at the expense of the trust."  

Foley devoted himself almost entirely to his engineering work and to the chapel except for one weakness that he had for the moving pictures, then a novelty entertainment that had just arrived in Bourne, and he and Henry Butler secured an agreement to use the Corn Exchange as a cinema, a facility that continued until his death which, like that of his brother George, was quite unexpected. 

He visited Harrogate Show on Saturday 24th July 1926 and returned by train to Peterborough where he called in at the market and met several old friends before catching the afternoon bus back to Bourne. He arrived at his home in North Road, about 5 pm and, after having his tea, complained of not feeling well and went upstairs but soon afterwards, his wife heard a thud and rushed upstairs to find him on the floor and called the doctor but he died within a few minutes. He was 58 years old and an inquest decided that he had died from heart failure. 

Foley came from an old Methodist family, maintaining close ties with the church in Abbey Road after moving to Bourne. He was also a member of the Hereward Lodge of Freemasons and was married with two young daughters. The funeral was a grand occasion and divided into two parts, the first a private ceremony at Foley's home for members of the family, and afterwards at the town cemetery, both conducted by the Vicar of Bourne, the Rev John Grinter, and the Wesleyan circuit minister, the Rev Herbert Tite. As the funeral cortege drove from his home to the cemetery, the blinds at all of the houses along the route were drawn and shops closed.  

His coffin was borne by eight employees and deposited in a vault of white, glazed bricks and as the service ended, fellow freemasons dropped sprigs of acacia into the grave. The plot in the cemetery was never purchased by his executors and no tombstone was erected with the result that it has since been re-used under the fifty-year rule governing cemeteries with a further burial on top without disturbing the original grave. 

After his death, the business was sold and the entire stock of agricultural machinery and haulage plant, comprising almost 800 lots, came under the hammer at an auction sale on the premises. The gap in the market was subsequently filled by a young man who had been employed as a clerk at Foley's works, Thomas Rickard, who established his own business on the old cattle market site as T Rickard and Sons Limited which continued in existence until the middle years of the 20th century.  

The name Foley is now relatively unknown in Bourne although occasional advertisements in town guides and other publications survive as a reminder of the impact he had on local business life.