Pierse Creagh Loftus (29 November 1877 – 20 January 1956) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

businessman and Conservative Party politician. A notable figure in the public life of Lowestoft and East Suffolk for several decades, he sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1934 to 1945 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 o ...

(MP) for the Lowestoft division of Suffolk.

Early life

Loftus was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland. When he was eight years old, he and his brother changed their surnames to Loftus, adopting their grandmother's

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also use ...

. He was educated at St. Augustine's School in Ramsgate and at

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Founded in 1859 by S ...

in Birmingham. After working in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

for three years, where he served with the Maritzburg Defence Force in 1899, he returned to England; in 1902 he bought a share in Adnams Brewery, in

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is ...

, with his brother Jack. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served with the Suffolk Regiment in France, reaching the rank of captain. He was elected to East Suffolk County Council in 1922, and the following year became vice-chairman of the Lowestoft Conservative Association. In 1931 he became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

of the council. Loftus was the author of a number of books. In 1912, he published 'The Conservative Party and the Future', intended as a contribution to the then vexed debate on his the Conservatives could return to government. More on the business side, Loftus tried to answer the vexing question of job shortages in 'A Main Cause of Unemployment' (1923). In 1926 Loftus published 'The Creed of a Tory', in which he sought to describe what a Conservative was and set out a political programme quit different from that of the Conservative Party nationally. This book included proposals for the indirect election of MPs by county councils, and suggestions of corporate representation. When Gervais Rentoul, the Conservative MP for Lowestoft, resigned his seat in 1934 to become a Metropolitan Police magistrate, Loftus was selected as the Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election. The Conservative Party was part of the National Government, and Loftus stood as a "National Conservative", i.e. a supporter of the government, with the backing of the other parties in the government. He was opposed by the Labour Party and by an independent Liberal candidate. The campaign was dominated by the issues facing Lowestoft's

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

, who had suffered from the loss of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

as a market for herring. Polling took place on 15 February, and Loftus won the seat with 48% of the votes. Loftus had a majority of 5.9% over the Labour Party candidate, former Leyton West MP Reginald Sorensen, whom he beat by 1,920 votes. This was significantly below Rentoul's majority in the 1931 general election, but Loftus was re-elected in the 1935 election with over 60% of the votes, and held the seat until his defeat at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

by the Labour candidate, Edward Evans. While he was a

, he concentrated on agriculture and fishing. Loftus was a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk for over 25 years, and High Steward of

from 1945 until his death. After leaving Parliament, he became chairman of the Rural Reconstruction Association.

Family

Loftus was married twice, firstly in 1910 to Dorothy Reynolds, with whom he had two sons. Reynolds died in 1943, and in 1945 he married again to Eileen Elkington, the widow of Brigadier-General R. J. G. Elkington and daughter of Claude Marzetti. He died at his home in Southwold on 20 January 1956, aged 78.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loftus, Pierse 1877 births 1956 deaths Politicians from County Kilkenny Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Members of East Suffolk County Council People educated at The Oratory School People from Lowestoft Suffolk Regiment officers Irish soldiers in the British Army Irish people of World War I British Army personnel of World War I English brewers British people of Irish descent