Francis Ley

Sir Francis Ley, Bt
from a photo with his Baseball team
Born	3 January 1846 Derby, Derbyshire
Died	17 January 1916 Epperstone
Education	Burton Grammar School and privately
Occupation	Businessman
Spouse(s)	Georgina Townsend Alison Catherine Jobson
Children	five
Parent(s)	George and Sarah Ley

Sir Francis Ley, 1st Baronet (3 January 1846 – 27 January 1916) was an English industrialist. He founded Ley's Malleable Castings Vulcan Ironworks in Derby. He (re-)introduced baseball into the United Kingdom with the Derby County Baseball Club and owned Ley's Baseball Ground from 1890 to 1924, which was home to Derby County Football Club.

In 1905, Ley was created a Baronet, of Epperstone Manor and, in the same year, served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire.

Francis Ley was born on 3 January 1846 in Winshill which at the time was in south-west Derbyshire (it's now in Staffordshire). He was the only son of George Phillips Ley and Sarah (born Potts). He started work at Andrew Handyside & Co. as a draughtsman and learnt about engineering. At the age of 28 he established a malleable iron castings foundry on Osmaston Road, Derby in 1874. The business became the Ley's Malleable Castings Company Ltd.

The Vulcan Iron Works at Osmaston Road occupied an 11-acre site by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway. In the London Gazette of 14 April 1876 Ley was granted a patent for "improvements in apparatus for locking and fastening nuts on fish plate and other bolts".

In 1878 he was sued for patent infringement by an American drive chain belt company; the case was settled and Ley's company was awarded sole manufacturing rights. By the 1880s Ley was demolishing his old works and rebuilding on a grander scale. The new factory was to include expensive sporting facilities. Ley was never sporting himself but he was an enthusiast for sport and sat on the board of Derbyshire County Cricket Club.