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 knighted and appointed a 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.

Aide to prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, widow of the Crown Princess Charlotte, he followed him to Belgium when he became the first king of the Belgians in 1831. Leopold made him a grand’officer in his order of Leopold in 1855.

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 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.