Born in Yeovil to a Quaker family, Foan received an elementary education before becoming an agricultural labourer.
By 1911, he was living in Saffron Walden, where he became the secretary of the local branch of the Independent Labour Party (ILP).
He was also active in the National Agricultural Labourers' and Rural Workers' Union, and was a leading figure in its East Anglian strike, from 1912 until 1914.
[1] He married Edith in 1914, and the couple relocated to Croydon, where Foan opened a tobacconists' shop, where he also worked as a hairdresser.
[1] He was the Labour Party candidate for Croydon North at the 1923, 1924 and 1929 general elections, taking a distant second place on each occasion.