Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus
PC (I) (c.1687 – 31 December 1763) was an
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
politician and peer.
Loftus was the son of Henry Loftus and Anne Crewkern. He served in the
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...
as the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Fethard between 1710 and 1713,
Clonmines
Clonmines is a civil parish and townland in the Bannow Bay area of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the site of "the finest example in Ireland of a deserted village, deserted ancient borough, medieval borough".Colfer 2004, p.77 It i ...
from 1713 to 1715 and
Wexford County between 1715 and 1751. Upon leaving the Commons, Loftus was elevated to the
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
as Baron Loftus, of
Loftus Hall
Loftus Hall is a large country house on the Hook peninsula, County Wexford, Ireland. Built on the site of the original Redmond Hall, it is said to have been haunted by the devil and the ghost of a woman.
Loftus Hall has a long history of own ...
in County Wexford in the
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...
on 5 October 1751, and assumed his seat in the
Irish House of Lords
The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland.
It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...
. He was invested as a member of the
Privy Council of Ireland
His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...
in 1753. He was further honoured when he was created Viscount Loftus of Ely in
County Wicklow
County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...
, also a title in the Irish peerage, on 19 July 1756.
He married Hon. Anne Ponsonby, daughter of
William Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Duncannon
William Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Duncannon (1659 – 17 November 1724), was an Anglo-Irish peer.
Background
He was born in 1659, the third son of Sir John Ponsonby (c. 1608/9 – 1678) of Bessborough in County Kilkenny, a Cromwellian colonel of H ...
and Mary Moore, in April 1706. They had five children:
[John Debrett, ''Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland'' (1820), 922.]
*Hon. Mary Loftus (d. 1779)
*Hon. Anne Loftus (d. 10 November 1768)
*Hon. Elizabeth Loftus (d. June 1747) who married
Sir John Tottenham, 1st Baronet
Sir John Tottenham, 1st Baronet (6 July 1714 – 2 January 1787) was an Anglo-Irish politician.
Tottenham was the son of Charles Tottenham and his first wife Ellinor Cliffe, daughter of John Cliffe of Mulrankin, County Wexford and Barbara Carr ...
and was the mother of
Charles Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely
Charles Tottenham Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely, Order of St Patrick, KP, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (23 January 1738 – 22 March 1806) was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician.
Life
Born Charles Tottenham, he assumed the additional surname of ...
*
Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely
Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely PC (I) (1708 – 31 October 1766) was an Anglo-Irish peer and member of the House of Lords.
He was the son of Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus and Anne Ponsonby, daughter of William Ponsonby, 1st Vis ...
(1708 - 31 October 1766)
*
Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely
Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely KP, PC (Ire) (18 November 1709 – 8 May 1783), styled The Honourable from 1751 to 1769 and known as Henry Loftus, 4th Viscount Loftus from 1769 to 1771, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician.
He was the youn ...
(18 November 1709 – 8 May 1783)
Loftus also had two illegitimate children by his Irish housekeeper, May Hernon:
*
Sir Edward Loftus, 1st Baronet
Sir Edward Loftus, 1st Baronet (c.1742 – 17 May 1818) was an Anglo-Irish politician.
Loftus was the illegitimate son of Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus by a woman with the surname of Phillips. He was educated at Kilkenny College. Loftus ...
(c.1742 - 17 May 1818)
*
Colonel Nicholas Loftus
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loftus, Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount
Year of birth unknown
1763 deaths
Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland
Peers of Ireland created by George II
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
Irish MPs 1703–1713
Irish MPs 1713–1714
Irish MPs 1715–1727
Irish MPs 1727–1760
Nicholas
Nicholas is a male given name and a surname.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...
Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
Members of the Irish House of Lords
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies
Year of birth uncertain