John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow
John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow | |
---|---|
Born | 19 August 1779 |
Died | 15 September 1853 (aged 74) |
Alma mater | |
Occupation | Slaveholder |
Spouse(s) | Amelia Sophia Hume, Caroline Fludyer, Emma Cust |
Children | John Egerton, Viscount Alford, Charles Cust, Lady Sophia Cust, Lady Caroline Mary Cust, Lady Katherine Anne Cust |
Parent(s) | |
Family | Edward Cust |
Awards |
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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) and Trinity College, Cambridge (1797) before undertaking a European tour of Russia and Germany in 1801. In 1802 he was elected the MP for Clitheroe, holding the seat until 1807, when he succeeded to his father's title and estates, including Belton House near Grantham, Lincolnshire.
In May 1805, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[1] From 1809 to 1852, he was Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and in 1815 was created Earl Brownlow and Viscount Alford, of Alford, in the County of Lincoln.[2] He was appointed to the Royal Guelphic Order as a Knight Grand Cross (GCH) in 1834.[3]
According to the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership at the University College London, Brownlow was an awardee under the Slave Compensation Act 1837. In the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, the British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £1.43 billion in 2021[4]) with interest from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore to compensate slave owners. The loan was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015).
In 1821, Brownlow’s younger brother, Sir Edward Cust, 1st Baronet (1794–1878), had married Mary Anne Boode (1799–1882). Mary was the daughter and heiress of Lewis William and Margaret Boode (née Dannett). The Boodes were a prominent Dutch, slave owning family. Brownlow and Wilbraham Egerton of Tatton Park acted as co-trustees and executors of Margaret Boode’s estate when she died in 1827. That estate included Greenwich Park, Demerara in British Guiana with 185 enslaved people. Brownlow and Egerton appear in T71/885 British Guiana claim no. 716A & B. Edward and Mary Cust, as beneficiaries of that estate received a £10,058 payment at the time (worth £961,570 in 2021[4]).[5]
Family[]
On 24 July 1810, Lord Brownlow married Sophia Hume, the second daughter and coheiress of Sir Abraham Hume, Bt., with whom he had three children:
- Lady Sophia Frances, (1811–1882) (allegedly a friend of Augustus Smith and a regular visitor to Tresco), married Lt-Col Christopher Tower. Mother of Amelia, Countess de Salis
- John Hume, Viscount Alford (1812–1851)
- Hon Charles Henry (1813–1875)
Brownlow's wife died in 1814 and on 22 September 1818, he married Caroline Fludyer daughter of George Fludyer of Ayston, Rutland (and a granddaughter of Sir Samuel Fludyer, Bt). Brownlow and Caroline had four daughters:
- Lady Caroline Mary Cust, (1819–1898)
- Lady Amelia Cust, (1821–?)
- Lady Katherine Anne Cust, (1822–1885)
- Lady Elizabeth Cust, (1824–1824)
Caroline died in 1824 and Brownlow then married thirdly Lady Emma Sophia Edgcumbe, a daughter of the 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. Lord Brownlow did have not any children with his third wife.
As his eldest son had pre-deceased him in 1851, on his own death in 1853 his titles and estates passed to his grandson, [6]
References[]
- ^ "Fellows 1660-2007" (PDF). Royal Society. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ^ "No. 17066". The London Gazette. 30 September 1815. p. 1997.
- ^ "John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow". The Peerage. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ^ "John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow". University College London. Retrieved on 20 March 2019.
- ^ Brownlow archives. Belton House records. Handwritten letter from Amelia Cust to her sister Sophia dated 25 October 1844. Last Will and Testament of Lady Amelia Cust.
- 1779 births
- 1853 deaths
- People educated at Eton College
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Lord-Lieutenants of Lincolnshire
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1802–1806
- UK MPs 1806–1807
- UK MPs who inherited peerages
- UK MPs who were granted peerages
- Tory MPs (pre-1834)
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Cust family
- Recipients of payments from the Slavery Abolition Act 1833
- British slave owners