Edward Cust

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

Biography

Cust was born in Hill Street, Berkeley Square, Middlesex, London in 1794. He was the sixth son of the 1st Baron Brownlow, and Frances Bankes. Cust was educated at Eton College, and the Royal Military College. In 1810, he joined the 16th Regiment of Light Dragoons as a cadet and was Captain of the 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards from 1816 and Major of the 55th Regiment of Foot from 1821.

From 1818, Cust sat in Parliament as MP for Grantham until 1826 and then for Lostwithiel from 1826-32. In 1831, he was awarded the KCH by William IV for his military service, and in 1835 he was appointed as one of the Royal Commissioners for reporting on the plans offered by competitors for rebuilding the Houses of Parliament. In February, 1834 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1845, Queen Victoria appointed him Assistant Master of the Ceremonies and was promoted as Master of the Ceremonies in 1847. He joined the Canterbury Association on 27 May 1848, but resigned again on 22 November of that year. In 1849, the Cust River in Canterbury was named after Sir Edward Cust. The township of Cust was in turn named after the river.

In 1876, Cust was made a baronet.

Bibliography

Sir Edward wrote:

Further reading

• Cracroft's Peerage
• The London Gazette

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir William Welby, Bt Robert Smith	Member of Parliament for Grantham 1818 – 1826 With: Sir William Welby, Bt 1818–1820 James Hughes 1820 Sir Montague Cholmeley, 1st Bt 1820–1826	Succeeded by Montague Cholmeley Frederick Tollemache
Preceded by Sir Alexander Grant, Bt Viscount Valletort	Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel 1826 – 1832 With: Viscount Valletort 1826–1830 Hon. William Vesey-FitzGerald 1830 Viscount Valletort 1830–1832	Constituency disenfranchised
Preceded by Thomas Hyde	Assistant Master of the Ceremonies 1845–1847	Succeeded by William Cornwall
Preceded by Sir Robert Chester	Master of the Ceremonies 1847 – 1876	Succeeded by Sir Christopher Teesdale
Military offices
Preceded by Sir Joseph Thackwell	Colonel of the 16th Lancers 1859 – 1878	Succeeded by Sir Charles Shute
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Leasowe Castle) 1876 – 1878	Succeeded by Leopold Cust