Marquess of Ely

Marquess of Ely, of the County of Wexford, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Charles Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely. He was born Charles Tottenham, the son of John Tottenham, who had been created a baronet, of Tottenham Green in the County of Wexford, in the Baronetage of Ireland in 1780, by the Honourable Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus, and sister and heiress of Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely (see Earl of Ely for earlier history of the Loftus family). In 1783 he succeeded to the Loftus estates on the death of his maternal uncle the Earl of Ely and assumed the same year by Royal license the surname of Loftus in lieu of his patronymic. In 1785 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall in the County of Wexford. He was further honoured when he was made Viscount Loftus, of Ely, in 1789, Earl of Ely, in the Kingdom of Ireland, in 1794, and Marquess of Ely, of the County of Wexford, in 1800, all in the Peerage of Ireland, becoming one of the few persons to rise to the rank of Marquess without having inherited any peerages. In 1801 he was created Baron Loftus, of Long Loftus in the County of York, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, by which title the Marquesses of Ely sat in the House of Lords until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999. Lord Ely also succeeded his father as second Baronet in 1786.

Lord Ely was succeeded by his eldest son, John, the second Marquess. He had previously represented County Wexford in both the Irish and British Parliaments. On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, John, the third Marquess. He briefly represented Woodstock in Parliament in 1845. This line of the family failed on the early death of his son, John, the fourth Marquess, in 1889. The late Marquess was succeeded by his first cousin John Loftus, the fifth Marquess. He was the eldest son of Reverend Lord Adam Loftus, third son of the second Marquess. The fifth Marquess died childless in 1925 and was succeeded by his youngest brother, George, the sixth Marquess. The latter's only surviving son, George, the seventh Marquess, was High Sheriff of County Fermanagh. On his death in 1969 without surviving children the line of the second Marquess failed. The late Marquess was succeeded by his third cousin once removed, Charles Tottenham, who became the eighth Marquess. He was the great-grandson of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles John Tottenham, DL, JP, eldest son of the Right Reverend Lord Robert Tottenham (who had not assumed the surname Loftus), second son of the first Marquess. The eighth Marquess lived in Canada. As of 2011 the titles are held by his eldest son, Charles, the ninth Marquess.

Several other members of the family may also be mentioned. Charles Tottenham, father of the first Baronet, represented New Ross in the Irish House of Commons. Charles Tottenham, brother of the first Baronet, also represented New Ross in the Irish Parliament. The aforementioned the Right Reverend Lord Robert Tottenham, second son of the first Marquess, was Bishop of Clogher. Henry Loftus Tottenham (1860–1950), son of John Francis Tottenham, son of Lord Robert Tottenham, was an Admiral in the Royal Navy. Sir Alexander Robert Loftus Tottenham (1873–1946), son of John Francis Tottenham, was administrator of Pudukkottai in British India. The Very Reverend George Tottenham (1825–1911), son of Lord Robert Tottenham, was Dean of Clogher. Lord Augustus Loftus, fourth son of the second Marquess, was a prominent diplomat.

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.