Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus facts for kids
Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus (born around 1568, died 1643), was an important figure in Ireland during the 1600s. He held the powerful job of Lord Chancellor of Ireland starting in 1619. In 1622, he was given a special title, becoming Viscount Loftus of Ely. His uncle, also named Adam Loftus, was also a Lord Chancellor and a leader in the Church of Ireland.
Lord Loftus often had disagreements with the Lord Deputy of Ireland, who was the King's main representative. In 1624, he clashed with Viscount Falkland. Later, in the late 1630s, his arguments with Falkland's replacement, The 1st Viscount Wentworth (who later became the Earl of Strafford), were even more intense. One of the main reasons Lord Strafford was later put on trial in 1641, which led to his execution, was because of how he was said to have treated Lord Loftus.
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Early Life and Start of Career
Adam Loftus was the second son of Robert Loftus. Not much is known about his mother. His family came from Yorkshire, England. Around 1592, his uncle, Archbishop Adam Loftus, who was good at helping his family, gave his nephew a special position at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. This job didn't involve looking after a parish.
At this time, young Adam Loftus was already a Master of Arts, likely from the University of Cambridge. Two years later, he became an archdeacon in Glendalough. On September 17, 1597, he was made a judge in the Irish Marshal's Court. This job showed he had good knowledge of civil law.
Working for the Crown
During the wars in Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I, a special kind of law called martial law was often used. Adam Loftus's job as a judge was to make sure decisions were made fairly. He was the only person to hold this specific job, which later ended. Loftus later said that this job didn't pay well and made him give up a good career in church courts.
In 1598, he became a master in the Chancery Court. A year later, he gained rights to lands that his uncle had leased. By 1604, his uncle, the Archbishop, described him as a professor of civil law and his own legal assistant. He was also still the archdeacon of Glendalough Cathedral, though he had a priest perform the daily duties there. Soon after, he was knighted.
In 1607, Loftus went to England. He was highly recommended to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, a powerful figure in the English government. A few months later, he received a yearly payment for life. In early 1608, Loftus became a member of the Irish Privy Council, a group of advisors to the King. He worked well with the Lord-Deputy, Lord-Deputy Chichester. In 1611, he became the constable of Maryborough, which was mostly an honorary title.
Loftus was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for King's County in the Irish Parliament of 1613. He was part of the Protestant group that voted for Sir John Davies to be the Speaker of the House, despite strong objections from the Catholic members. The next year, he received land in Wexford that had been taken by the Crown.
Becoming Lord Chancellor
In the summer of 1618, Loftus traveled to England with a letter of recommendation from Lord-Deputy St. John. The next year, he became one of the Commissioners of the Court of Wards, which managed the estates of young heirs. When Archbishop Thomas Jones of Dublin died on April 10, 1619, Loftus was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in his place on April 23.
Disagreements with Lord Falkland
When Lord St. John was called back to England in May 1622, Loftus was appointed Lord Justice of Ireland, a temporary leader of the country. At the same time, he was given the title of Viscount Loftus of Ely. King James I said he gave Loftus this honor so his good deeds would be remembered. As Lord Chancellor, Loftus was part of groups that looked into the state of the Church and helped settle the Ulster Plantation.
He had always gotten along well with St. John, and at first, he was friendly with the new Lord Deputy, Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland. However, by 1624, they were openly fighting. The Chancellor refused to put the Great Seal of Ireland (which made laws official) on certain permits for tanning and distilling. He suggested that judges should decide if these permits were legal. Falkland, as the King's representative, believed he had the power to ignore legal objections.
This argument lasted a long time. Loftus complained that his 30 years of service were not valued, that he wasn't paid enough, and that he only received £300 a year to support his important position. These complaints seemed fair, and in 1625, he was granted half of the fees from certain legal documents.
When Charles I became King, the bad relationship between Falkland and Loftus continued. In May 1627, Loftus was called to England, and the Great Seal was temporarily given to a group of commissioners. After a long investigation, King Charles I declared Loftus innocent of all charges made against him as a judge. In May 1628, Falkland was ordered to fully restore Loftus to his position and treat him with respect. In 1629, the King gave Loftus the special permission to visit England whenever he wanted, leaving the Great Seal with commissioners, including his cousin, Sir Adam Loftus of Rathfarnham.
Falkland left Ireland in August 1629. Loftus then became Lord Justice of Ireland for the second time, sharing the role with Sir Richard Boyle, who later became the Earl of Cork. In 1632, Loftus played a role in getting William Newman, who later became his chaplain, appointed as a fellow at Trinity College Dublin.
Conflict with Wentworth
Lord Falkland's replacement, The 1st Viscount Wentworth, arrived in Ireland in the summer of 1633. Loftus sent him a welcoming letter, thanking him for past help and promising to work well with him. For a few years, they seemed to get along. However, by April 1636, Wentworth began to speak negatively about Loftus and his wife, Sarah Barlow.
Lord Wentworth then accused Lord Loftus of several improper practices. These included hearing legal cases at his home instead of in open court, and more seriously, taking bribes for his judgments.
Wentworth's first move was against Loftus's second son, Edward, who was accused of corruption in managing an estate. Edward left the country, which angered Wentworth, who insisted on his return. Edward was forced to apologize and was briefly imprisoned.
Wentworth then directly targeted Loftus in his own court, the Court of Castle Chamber, which was similar to the Star Chamber in England. Wentworth believed he could use the King's power to overrule Loftus's arguments. A farmer named John Fitzgerald complained to Wentworth that Loftus had ruled against him without hearing his side. Loftus then imprisoned Fitzgerald for supposedly hiding his wheat crop to avoid paying a debt, even though Fitzgerald said he had simply stored it. The Court of Castle Chamber asked Loftus to release Fitzgerald while they investigated, but Loftus refused.
Lord Wentworth decided to use the Fitzgerald case, along with a dispute over a marriage agreement, to finally remove Loftus from power. He succeeded, but he couldn't stop Loftus from moving to England, where he actively worked against Wentworth.
Later Life and Family
After losing his position, Lord Loftus lived near his property in Coverham, Yorkshire. His son Edward had married Jane Lyndley and seemed to live at Middleham Castle. In 1641, the former Chancellor was among several Irish lords in England who asked Parliament to act against those spreading false news from Ireland.
The start of the Irish Rebellion in 1641 made his Irish estates worthless. Like many who had opposed Strafford, Loftus found that Strafford's downfall led to instability in the country. Adam Loftus died in early 1643 and was buried in Coverham Church.
Loftus married Sarah Bathow (who died in 1650). They had four sons and two daughters, including:
- Robert, who married Eleanor Ruishe. He died before his father, leaving only a daughter.
- Edward, who became the 2nd Viscount after his father's death. He married Jane Lyndley and had children.
- Alice, the younger daughter, married Charles Moore, 2nd Viscount Moore of Drogheda. They had several children. In 1639, she was seen asking the King to allow her father to return. When the male line of the Loftus family ended, their estate, Monasterevin, passed to her children in the Moore family. After her husband died in battle in 1643, she had disagreements with the King and was briefly held for political reasons. She died in 1649 after a fall from her horse.
The title of Viscount Loftus eventually ended when his grandson, the 3rd Viscount, died in 1725. The family estate of Monasterevin (renamed Moore Abbey) then went to his daughter's son, Henry, 4th Earl of Drogheda. The title was later given again in 1756 to his cousin, Nicholas Loftus, a descendant of the archbishop. It ended and was revived a few more times, eventually being held by the Marquess of Ely along with other family titles.
In 1900, the Marquess of Drogheda owned a portrait of the Chancellor and many interesting family papers.
Reputation
Some historians have described Adam Loftus in a less favorable light, calling him "corrupt" and "cunning." They suggest that while he had legal skills, his rise to power was more due to his powerful family connections than just his own talents. Other historians offer a similar, but slightly less harsh, view of him.
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