Lord Augustus William Frederick Spencer Loftus, (4 October 1817 – 7 March 1904) was a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Ambassador to Prussia from 1865 to 1868, to the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

from 1868 to 1871 and to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

from 1871 to 1879 and

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

from 1879 to 1885.

Background

Loftus was the fourth son of

John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely KP (15 February 1770 – 26 September 1845), styled The Honourable John Loftus from 1785 to 1794 and Viscount Loftus from 1794 to 1806, was a British peer in both the Irish and British peerages. Life He was the ...

, by Anna Maria Dashwood, daughter of

Sir Henry Dashwood, 3rd Baronet Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood, 3rd Baronet (30 August 1745 – 10 June 1828) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1775 and 1795. Early life Dashwood was the eldest surviving son of Sir James Dashwood, 2nd ...

.thepeerage.com Rt. Hon. Lord Augustus William Frederick Spencer Loftus
/ref>

Career

Loftus entered the diplomatic service in 1837 as attaché at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and was likewise attaché at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in 1844. He was secretary to Sir Stratford Canning in 1848, and after serving as secretary of legation at Stuttgart (1852), and Berlin (1853), was envoy at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1858), Berlin (1860) and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(1862). He was subsequently Ambassador at Berlin from 1865 to 1868, to the

from 1868 to 1871 and to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

from 1871 to 1879. He then served as

from 1879 to 1885. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1866 and sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1868.

Family

Loftus married Emma Maria Greville, daughter of Vice-Admiral Henry Francis Greville, in 1845. They had three sons and two daughters. The town of

Emmaville, New South Wales Emmaville is a town on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the Glen Innes Severn Council district. Emmaville is at an elevation of 890 metres AHD. At the 2006 census, the Emmaville "urb ...

, was named after Emma in 1882. Lady Augustus died in January 1902. Loftus survived her by two years and died in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in March 1904, aged 86.

References

Governors of New South Wales Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Younger sons of marquesses 1817 births 1904 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Russia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Prussia Colony of New South Wales people 19th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-politician-stub

Background

Career

Family

Further reading

References