Charles Loftus, formerly Tottenham, (1738-1806), 1st Marquess of Ely, was an Irish peer and politician. He was the only son of Sir John Tottenham, 1st Baronet and Elizabeth Loftus. In 1766, he married Jane Myhill and they had two sons and a daughter. He sat as MP for Clonmines, Co. Wexford, 1761-76, Fethard, 1776-83, and Wexford town, 1783-85. He voted against Catholic relief, legislative independence, and parliamentary reform. He was also a professional soldier, acting as an aide-de-camp to successive Lord Lieutenants of Ireland from 1765-69. He held a number of significant positions including Collector of the Revenue for Drogheda, Paymaster of Forces serving abroad, Joint Postmaster General, Captain of the Rathfarnham Yeomanry Corps and as an Irish Privy Counsellor. He assumed the name ‘Loftus’ after the death of his uncle, Henry Loftus, 4th Viscount Ely, in 1783. He was created Baron Loftus in 1785, Viscount Loftus in 1789, and Earl of Ely in 1794 and was later admitted into the UK peerage as Marquess of Ely and Baron Loftus in 1801. He died in 1806 in Dublin and was succeeded by his eldest son, John Loftus (1770-1845).

Loftus inherited the Loftus Hall estate from his uncle, after a dispute over inheritance, in 1784. The Adam office made designs for a classical-style gate and lodge for the park at Loftus Hall, and an additional set of gates, for Charles Loftus in 1785. Neither of these designs appear to have been executed.

Literature:
A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, Index, 1922, p. 21; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 2, 2001, pp. 183, 221; E. M. Johnston-Liik, ‘Sir Charles Tottenham (Loftus)’, Dictionary of Irish Biography, 2009, online [accessed 26 February 2024]

Louisa Catt, 2024