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 State rel ...

politician and peer.

Biography

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 the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

as the Member of Parliament 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". It is situated in th ...

from 1713 to 1715 and

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

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 Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

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 ow ...

in County Wexford in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

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 the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

. 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 ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, 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 John Ponsonby (colonel), Sir John Ponsonby (c. 1608/9 – 1678) of Bessborough in County Kilkenny, a ...

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 and was the mother of Charles Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely * Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (1708 - 31 October 1766) *

Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely Order of St Patrick, KP, Privy Council of Ireland, 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 Angl ...

(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 name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

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