A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Loftus, Arthur
LOFTUS. (Lieut., 1813. h-p., 8; h-p., 33.)
Arthur Loftus is second son of the Rev. Arthur Loftus, by Ellen, daughter of Sir Duke Gifford, Bart., of Castle Jordan, co. Meath; and brother of the late Major Henry Duke Loftus, and the late Capt. Wm. Loftus, both in the Army. One of his uncles, Thos. Loftus, was a M.P. and a Captain in the 1st Horse Guards; and another, Wm. Loftus, of Kilbride, co. Wicklow, many years a Member of the Irish and English Parliaments, was a General Officer in the Army, Colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, and Lieutenant of the Tower of London. Lieut. Loftus – a first-cousin of the present Major-General Loftus of Kilbride – is a direct descendant of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and Chancellor of Ireland, who had (with seven daughters, all married to Knights) a family of five sons; three of whom received the honour of Knighthood. One of the Prelate’s two other sons, Adam, a Captain in the Army, was killed in action with the O’Byrnes of co. Wicklow 29 May, 1599.
This officer entered the Navy, 28 March, 1806, as Fst.-cl. Boy, on board the Milan 38, Capt. Sir Robt. Laurie; and from 5 of the following April until 5 Oct. 1810 was employed, chiefly as Midshipman, in the Quebec 32, Capts. Geo. M‘Kinley, Lord Viscount Falkland, Hon. Geo. Poulett, and Chas. Sibthorpe John Hawtayne. He assisted during that period at the cutting-out (he had not at the time been a fortnight in the service) of several vessels on the coast of Holland – made two voyages to the shores of Greenland – witnessed the surrender, in Sept. 1807, of the island of Heligoland – was twice nearly wrecked, on the coasts of Norway and Denmark (on the first occasion during a tremendous gale which lasted three days) – joined (after having been blocked up for a whole winter in the ice at Gottenborg) in the Quebec’s gallant pursuit of the Danish 74 Prindts Christian Frederic, a pursuit that led to the capture of that ship, 22 March, 1808, by the Nassau and Stately 64’s – accompanied the expedition of 1809 to the Scheldt, where he obtained the thanks of Sir Rich. Strachan for his conduct in command of a launch, armed with a 12-pounder carronade, in an attack on the island of South Beveland – served at the blockade of an enemy’s force in Cherbourg – and co-operated in the defence of Cadiz. Becoming attached, in Feb. 1811, to the Scipion 74, bearing the flag of Hon. Robt. Stopford, Mr. Loftus contributed, in the course of the same year, to the conquest of the island of Java. In April, 1812, having returned to England, he passed his examination; but he was not promoted to the rank of Lieutenant until 14 June, 1813; prior to which period he had been further employed in the Scipion, under Capt. Henry Heathcote, on the Mediterranean station. After he had been lent for brief periods to the Ocean 98 and Mulgrave 74, Mr. Loftus received an appointment, 7 Oct. 1813, to the Royal George 100, Capt. Thos. Francis Chas. Mainwaring; under whom, it appears, he beheld Sir Edw. Pellew’s two partial actions with the Toulon fleet, and saw some boat-service. Since the paying- off of the Royal George, in Aug. 1814, he has not been afloat.
Lieut. Loftus, now a widower, married Anne Abigail, only child and heiress of John Grey, Esq., a lady belonging to a junior branch of the family of Lord Grey de Groby, by whom he has issue a son and daughter. The former is a Lieutenant in the 10th Hussars.