Robert Needham Cust
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Robert Needham Cust (24 February 1821 – 27 October 1909) was a British administrator and judge in colonial India apart from being an Anglican evangelist and linguist. He was part of the
Orientalism In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...
movement and active within the
British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The ...
. He was a prolific writer and wrote on a range of subjects.


Life

Cust was born to Reverend Henry Cockayne Cust, Canon of Windsor, who was the second son of Sir Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow (1744–1807), and Lady Anna Maria Elizabeth Needham, daughter of the Earl of Kilmorey. His elder brothers were Henry Cockayne-Cust and Sir Reginald Cust. Cust was educated at
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
,
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, Haileybury (1840–42) and the College of Fort William, Calcutta, graduating from the last-named institution in 1844. He then worked in the Bengal Civil Services for the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
, in
Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...
and
Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...
(assistant to the magistrate), in India. He was present at the battles of Mudki, Ferozeshah, and Sobraon in 1845–46, where his superior Major George Broadfoot was killed and at the close of the Sikh campaign he was placed in charge of a new province in the
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
. There he filled in succession every office in the judicial and revenue departments across Punjab, and was rapidly promoted until 1867, when he resigned and returned to England, after having been a member of the Viceroy's Legislative Council and Home Secretary to the Government of India in 1864–65. Cust returned to England briefly on furlough and returned to work in Benares and Banda. For his work he was offered the high post of magistrate and collector at Delhi. He declined the offer and went on furlough again to England in 1857. The officer who took up the post became a victim of the 1857 rebellion. Cust was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 13 August 1857. Cust returned to India and served in Lahore at the request of Sir John Lawrence but left again for England when his first wife died on 17 January 1864. He then returned to join the legislative council and acted as home secretary to the government (1864–65). In 1867 his second wife died in childbirth and he decided to retire from Indian service even though he was just nine months away from completing the tenure needed to receive a full pension. After retiring to England Cust devoted himself to scientific research, philanthropy, and magisterial and municipal duties, declining reappointments in India. He was a member and officer in many scientific, philanthropic, and religious societies and a prolific writer. He was one of the few Victorian intellectuals to oppose the racist theories popular at the time. Along with John Bradford Whiting, Cust was against the abandonment of Henry Venn's policy of developing indigenous leadership in Africa. In 1883 he wrote: Following the
Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra The coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Edward VII and his wife, Alexandra of Denmark, Alexandra, as King of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, ...
on 9 August 1902, Cust wrote a letter to ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', stating that he was probably among the very few people present for the coronation, who had also attended the coronation of
King 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 hi ...
and Queen Adelaide in 1831 and
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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
in 1838. Cust died on 27 October 1909.


Personal life

Cust was first married to Maria Adelaide, daughter of Henry Lewis Hobart,
Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canon (priest), canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilat ...
on 10 May 1856. They had two sons and three daughters (one was Albinia Wherry). After her death on 17 January 1864, he was married again in December 1865 to Emma, daughter of rector E. Carlyon. Emma died on 10 August 1867 and is buried in Prayagraj. He married thirdly to Elizabeth Dewar daughter of J. Mathews in November 1868.


Works

* ''Draft Bill of Codes Regulating Rights in Land and Land-Revenue Procedure in Northern India'' (1870) *
A Sketch of the Modern Languages of the East Indies
' (1878) *''Linguistic and Oriental Essays'' in seven volume
Volume I 1846-1878
(1880)
Volume II 1840-1897
(1898)
Volume III 1847-1890
(1891)
Volume V 1861-1895
(1895)
Volume VI 1840-1901
(1901) *
Essay on the National Custom of British India: Known as Caste, Varna, or Jati
' (1881) *
Pictures of Indian Life
' (1881) *
Modern Languages of Africa. Volume I
' (1878) Volume II *
Notice of the Scholars who have Contributed to the Extension of our Knowledge of the Languages of British India during the last Thirty Years
' (1879) *
The Opium Question; or, Is India to be Sacrificed to China?
' (1885) *
The Shrines of Lourdes, Zaragossa, the Holy Stairs at Rome, the Holy House of Loretto and Nazareth, and St. Ann at Jerusalem
' (1885) *
Poems of Many Years and Many Places
' (1897) *
The Liquor Traffic in British India: Or, Has the British Government Done Its Duty? An Answer to Venerable Archdeacon Farrar and Mr. Samuel Smith
' (1888) *
Three Lists of Bible Translations Actually Accomplished
' (1890) *
Africa Rediviva
' (1891) *
Clouds on the Horizon: An Essay on the Various Forms of Belief, Which Stand in the Way of Acceptance of Real Christian Faith by Educated Natives of Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania
' (1891) *
Essay on the Prevailing Method of the Evangelization of the Non-Christian World
' (1894) *
Common Features Which Appear in All Forms of Religious Belief
' (1895) *
The Gospel-Message
' (1896) *
Memoirs of Past Years of a Septuagenarian
' (1899) *
Oecumenical List of Translations of the Holy Scriptures to 1900
' (1900) *
The Last Scratch of an Octogenarian Pen
' (1903)


References


Sources

* * *


External links


Missionary Biography


{{DEFAULTSORT:Cust, Robert Needham 1821 births 1909 deaths Linguists from the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Robert Needham