Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 2nd Earl of Ely (11 September 1738 – 12 November 1769)[1] was an Anglo-Irish peer, briefly styled Viscount Loftus in October 1766.
He was the subject of a notorious legal case regarding his mental capabilities. Family members testified that he was of normal intelligence, and that any eccentric behaviour should be blamed on his father's ill-treatment of him.[3]