Sir Edward Cust, 1st Baronet, KCH (17 March 1794 – 14 January 1878) was a British

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' deri ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

and

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

Early life

He was born in Hill Street,

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, in 1794, the sixth son of the

Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow (3 December 1744 – 25 December 1807), of Belton House near Grantham in Lincolnshire (known as Sir Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet, from 1770 to 1776), was a British Tory Member of Parliament. Origins He was the son ...

and his second wife Frances Bankes (1756–1847). His older brothers were

John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow, GCH (19 August 1779 – 15 September 1853) was a British Peer and Tory politician. Life Cust was the eldest son of the 1st Baron Brownlow and his second wife, Frances. He was educated at Eton (1788–93) ...

, Peregrine Cust, Rev.

Henry Cockayne Cust Rev. Canon Henry Cockayne Cust (28 September 1780 – 19 May 1861) was a Canon of Windsor from 1813 to 1861.''Fasti Wyndesorienses'', May 1950. S. L. Ollard. Published by the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Origins He was a ...

and William Cust. Cust was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

, and the Royal Military College. In 1810, he joined the 16th Regiment of Light Dragoons as a cadet and was

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the

5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, British army cavalry regiment, officially formed in January 1686 as Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. Following a number of name changes, it became t ...

from 1816 and

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

of the

55th Regiment of Foot The 55th Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment, raised in 1755. After 1782 it had a county designation added, becoming known as the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 34th (Cu ...

from 1821.

Parliamentarian

From 1818, Cust sat in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as member of parliament for

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

until 1826 and then for

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increas ...

from 1826 to 1832. As a Member of Parliament, he raised concerns about the management of public architectural projects, particular the works at Buckingham House. In 1831, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

and appointed a KCH by

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

for his military service. In February 1834 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

. After the

Burning of Parliament The Palace of Westminster, the medieval royal palace used as the home of the British parliament, was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834. The blaze was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks which had been used as part ...

in 1834, Cust proposed that the new

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

should be to a design chosen in an open competition. He prevailed on

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

, Prime Minister in late 1834, and a competition was held. Cust in this way successfully opposed the appointment of Robert Smirke to be the architect. Peel was replaced by

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pr ...

as Prime Minister in April 1835, and it was decided to proceed with the competition along Cust's lines, with the style limited to Elizabethan or Gothic, so rejecting the neo-classical.W. J. Rorabaugh, ''Politics and the Architectural Competition for the Houses of Parliament, 1834–1837'', Victorian Studies Vol. 17, No. 2 (Dec., 1973), pp. 155–175, at pp. 164–167. Published by: Indiana University Press In 1835 Cust was appointed one of the Royal Commissioners for reporting on the plans offered. The others, all amateurs from the point of view of architectural knowledge, were Charles Hanbury-Tracy, Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth,

Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. H ...

and George Vivian. The successful design was that of

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also respon ...

, whom Cust knew from the

Travellers' Club The Travellers Club is a private gentlemen's club situated at 106 Pall Mall in London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest of the surviving Pall Mall clubs and one of the most exclusive, having been established in 1819. It was described as "th ...

Courtier

In 1816 Cust became

equerry An equerry (; from French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon ...

to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, who that year married Princess Charlotte of Wales. When Leopold became the first

King of the Belgians Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's ...

in 1831, Cust went to Belgium. Leopold made him a grand’officer in his Order of Leopold in 1855. In 1845,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

appointed Cust Assistant Master of the Ceremonies and he was promoted to Master of the Ceremonies in 1847.

New Zealand

Cust joined the

Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch ...

on 27 May 1848, but resigned again on 22 November of that year. In 1849, the

Cust River The Cust River is a river in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. It flows east across the upper Canterbury Plains from its source north of the town of Oxford, New Zealand, flowing into the Cam River / Ruataniwha close to the town of Rangiora. ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

was named after Sir Edward Cust. The township of Cust was in turn named after the river.

Later life

In 1859 Cust was given the colonelcy for life of the 16th (The Queen's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers). In 1876, he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

Bibliography

Cust wrote: * * *

Family

Cust married in 1821 Mary Anne Boode, daughter of Lewis William Boode of

Peover Hall Peover Hall is a country house in the civil parish of Peover Superior, commonly known as Over Peover, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. History The house ...

in Cheshire. They had a son and five daughters. The Boode family were Dutch planters in

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state f ...

, Lewis William being originally Lodewijk Willem Boode, and the brother of Andreas Christian Boode (1763–1844). Mary inherited from her mother Margaret, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Dannett of Liverpool and a widow by 1802, the Greenwich Park estate in Demerara, on her death c.1827. Before Margaret's death, in the 1823–4 parliamentary session, Cust was appointed to the committee of the West India planters and merchants there. Mary Cust was lady of the bedchamber to

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , house = , father = Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , mother = Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf , birth_date = , birth_place = Coburg, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death ...

. A further family property inherited from her mother was Leasowe Castle. Edward Cust received half the compensation for the enslaved people on the Greenwich Park estate under the

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administrat ...

. The couple had a son and five daughters. The children were: * Sir Leopold Cust, 2nd Baronet (1831–1878), married 1863 Charlotte Sobieski Isabel Bridgeman. * Louisa Mary Ann (died 1863), married in 1862 the Rev. John James Moss. He was the son of John Moss (1782–1858), the plantation owner and Liverpool banker. * Victoria Mary Louisa (died 1895) married 1846 Simon Yorke III (died 1894) of

Erddig Erddig Hall ( cy, Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade-I listed National Trust property in Wrexham, Wales. Standing south of Wrexham city centre, it comprises a country house built during the 17th and 18th centuries amidst a 1,900 ...

. *Ethelred or Etheldreda Victoria (died 1893), married 1864 Charles Henry Congreve (died 1875). *Margaret Amy Frances, married 1850 Charles Randle Egerton R.N. (died 1869). His father, Wilbraham Egerton of Tatton Park, had been executor for Margaret Boode. *Henrietta Maria Christina (died 1846), did not marry.

References

External links

Cracroft's PeerageThe London Gazette
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cust, Sir Edward 1794 births 1878 deaths 5th Dragoon Guards officers 55th Regiment of Foot officers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 Younger sons of barons UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 British Army generals Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Eton College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Members of the Canterbury Association

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire