Lofft, Capell (1751 -1824)

Capell Lofft, of Troston near Bury St Edmunds, born 14 November 1751, was the son of Christopher Lofft, private secretary to Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, and Anne, sister of Edward Capell, the editor of Shakespeare. He was educated at Eton and Peterhouse Cambridge, which he entered in 1769, but left the following year to enter Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar in 1775. Soon afterwards, his father's death brought him an independent fortune, and at the death of his uncle, Edward Capell in 1781, he succeeded to the family estates at Troston and Stanton near Bury St Edmunds. A prolific writer, he studied political law, was a strong Whig, and took part in the agitation against the slave trade, against the American war and for Parliamentary reform. In 1818 he left Troston and travelled on the Continent, settling in Turin. He married, firstly, 20 August 1778, Anne, daughter of Henry Emlyn of Windsor, and secondly, 10 March 1802, Sarah Watson, daughter of John Finch Esq. of Cambridge, a poetess. He died at Moncalieri 22 May 1824, and his library was sold at auction by R. H. Evans 8 June 1825.