Constituency Dates
Grantham 18 Apr. 1743 – 24 Jan. 1770
Family and Education
b. 29 Aug. 1718, 1st s. of Sir Richard Cust, 2nd Bt., of Leasingham, nr. Sleaford, Lincs. by Anne, da. of Sir William Brownlow, 4th Bt., sis. and h. of John Brownlow, 1st Visct. Tyrconnel [I]. educ. Grantham g.s.; Eton 1731-5; Corpus Christi, Camb. 1735-9; M. Temple 1735, called 1742, hon. bencher 1761. m. 8 Dec. 1743, Etheldred, da. and coh. of Thomas Payne of Hough, Lincs., 2s. 2da. suc. fa. 25 July 1734; his mother inherited Brownlow estates on d. of Visct. Tyrconnel 27 Feb. 1754.
Offices Held

Clerk of the household to the Prince of Wales 1747 – 51, to the Princess dowager 1751 – 56; col. Lincs. militia 1758 – 61; Speaker of the House of Commons 1761 – 70; P.C. 24 Jan. 1762.

Address
Main residence: Belton, Lincs.
biography text

Cust was returned at a by-election in 1743 on the interest of his uncle, Lord Tyrconnel, for Grantham, which he represented without a contest till his death. In his first Parliament he voted with the Government till 1746, when he was classed as Old Whig. Going over in 1747 to the new Leicester House opposition, he was appointed clerk of the household to the Prince of Wales, with the duty of supervising the royal bills of fare.1Recs. Cust. Fam. iii. 46-47. At Leicester House his chief friend was the 2nd Lord Egmont, who about 1750 put him down alternatively for secretary or lord of the Treasury in the next reign. He lost his post on Frederick’s death but was reinstated when one of the clerks of the Princess dowager’s household died a few weeks later. Thenceforth he supported the Government till the end of 1755 when with most of the late Prince’s servants he followed Pitt into opposition. He died 24 Jan. 1770.

Author
R.R.S.
Volume
Commons 1715-1754
Notes
  • 1. Recs. Cust. Fam. iii. 46-47.