Lord Ely had previously been created Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall in the County of Wexford, in 1785, Viscount Loftus, of Ely, in 1789, and Earl of Ely, in the Kingdom of Ireland, in 1794, all in the Peerage of Ireland. He was subsequently created Baron Loftus, of Long Loftus in the County of York, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, in 1801, by which title the Marquesses of Ely sat in the British House of Lords until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999. The 1st Marquess was one of the few persons to rise to the rank of Marquess without having inherited any peerages.
The 1st Marquess's father, John Tottenham, had been created an Irish Baronet, styled "of Tottenham Green in the County of Wexford", in 1780. He inherited the Baronetcy in 1786, after his elevation to the Peerage as 1st Baron Loftus, having changed his surname to Loftus in 1783 upon inheriting the estates of his uncle, the 1st Earl of Ely of the second creation (see below). In 1969, the titles passed to a branch of the family who had not adopted the surname Loftus.
The Earldom of Ely had previously been granted twice to members of the Loftus family, whose estates were inherited by the 1st Marquess. Nicholas Loftus was created Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall in the County of Wexford, in 1751, and Viscount Loftus, of Ely in the County of Wicklow, in 1756, and his son, the 2nd Viscount, was created Earl of Ely in 1766. The Earldom became extinct on the death of the 2nd Earl in 1769, but the Viscountcy and Barony of Loftus passed to the 2nd Earl's uncle, who became the 4th Viscount, and who was created Earl of Ely in 1771, and on whose death all these titles became extinct.
The title refers to Ely in County Wicklow, not to the City of Ely in Cambridgeshire, and the second syllable is pronounced to rhyme with "lie" rather than "lee" (and so the title is pronounced in the same way as the first name Eli).
The similar title Marquess of the Isle of Ely was created with the Dukedom of Edinburgh in 1726.
Loftus family
Barons Loftus, first creation (1751–1783)
- Nicholas Loftus, 1st Baron Loftus (c. 1687-1763) (created Viscount Loftus in 1756)
Viscounts Loftus, first creation (1756–1783)
- Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus (c. 1687-1763)
- Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 2nd Viscount Loftus (d. 1766) (created Earl of Ely in 1766)
Earls of Ely, first creation (1766–1769)
- Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (d. 1766)
- Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 2nd Earl of Ely (1738-1769) (Earldom extinct, Viscountcy and Barony passed to his uncle)
Viscounts Loftus, first creation (1756–1783) (continued)
- Henry Loftus, 4th Viscount Loftus (1709-1783) (created Earl of Ely in 1771)
Earls of Ely, second creation (1771–1783)
- Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (1709-1783) (all titles extinct on his death)
Tottenham/Loftus family
Barons Loftus, second creation (1785—)
- Charles Loftus, 1st Baron Loftus (1738-1806) (created Marquess of Ely in 1801)
Viscounts Loftus, second creation (1789—)
- Charles Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus (1738-1806) (created Marquess of Ely in 1801)
Earls of Ely, third creation (1794—)
- Charles Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (1738-1806) (created Marquess of Ely in 1801)
Marquesses of Ely (1800—)
- Charles Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely (1738-1806)
- John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely (1770-1845)
- John Henry Loftus, 3rd Marquess of Ely (1814-1857)
- John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus, 4th Marquess of Ely (1849-1889)
- John Henry Loftus, 5th Marquess of Ely (1851-1925)
- George Herbert Loftus, 6th Marquess of Ely (1854-1935)
- George Henry Wellington Loftus, 7th Marquess of Ely (1903-1969)
- Charles John Tottenham, 8th Marquess of Ely (1913-2006)
- Charles John Tottenham, 9th Marquess of Ely (b. 2 Feb 1943)
Heir Presumptive: The Lord Timothy Craig Tottenham (b. 1948) (Lord Ely's younger brother)
Lord Timothy's Heir Apparent: Scott Craig Tottenham (b. 1977)
Tottenham Baronets, of Tottenham Green (1780—)
- Sir John Tottenham, 1st Baronet (1714-1786)
- Charles Loftus, 1st Baron Loftus, 2nd Baronet (1738-1806) (had been created Baron Loftus in 1785)
- For further Baronets see Barons Loftus etc. above.
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Last updated on Tuesday June 10, 2008 at 14:36:25 PDT (GMT -0700)
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