Henry Cust
Encyclopedia
- For his father, see Henry Cockayne-CustHenry Cockayne-CustHenry Francis Cockayne-Cust , was a British Conservative Party politician.-Background:Born Henry Cust, Cockayne-Cust was the eldest son of Reverend the Hon. Henry Cust, Canon of Windsor, younger son of Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow. His mother was Lady Anna Maria Elizabeth, daughter of Francis...
.
Henry John "Harry" Cockayne-Cust (10 October 1861 – 2 March 1917) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
politician and editor
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
who served as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the Unionist Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.
Biography
Cust was born to Sara Jane Cookson and Henry Cockayne-CustHenry Cockayne-Cust
Henry Francis Cockayne-Cust , was a British Conservative Party politician.-Background:Born Henry Cust, Cockayne-Cust was the eldest son of Reverend the Hon. Henry Cust, Canon of Windsor, younger son of Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow. His mother was Lady Anna Maria Elizabeth, daughter of Francis...
, and was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
(where he was captain of the Oppidans) and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
. While at Trinity College, he was elected to the Apostles
Cambridge Apostles
The Cambridge Apostles, also known as the Cambridge Conversazione Society, is an intellectual secret society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who went on to become the first Bishop of Gibraltar....
and graduated with second-class honours in the Classical Tripos
Classical Tripos
The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the University of Cambridge, equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three year degree, but for those who have not studied Latin and Greek at school a four year course has been introduced...
. Initially pursuing a legal career, Cust was admitted to the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1888 but was not called. Instead he decided to enter Parliament, and won a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in 1890 for Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)
Stamford was a constituency in the county of Lincolnshire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of England to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...
. He left Parliament during the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
, but returned five years later when he won a seat in the constituency of Bermondsey
Bermondsey (UK Parliament constituency)
Bermondsey was a borough constituency centred on the Bermondsey district of South London, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, remaining until 1906.
Cust was one of The Souls
The Souls
The Souls were a small, loosely-knit but distinctive social group in England, from 1885 to about 1920. Their members included many of the most distinguished English politicians and intellectuals....
, and attached to Pamela Wyndham (who later married Edward Tennant
Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner
Edward Priaulx Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner , known as Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet, from 1906 to 1911, was a Scottish Liberal politician....
). Others in the clique were Margot Asquith
Margot Asquith
Margot Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith , born Emma Alice Margaret Tennant, was an Anglo-Scottish socialite, author and wit...
, Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
, George Curzon
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
, Alfred Lyttelton
Alfred Lyttelton
Alfred Lyttelton QC was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports: cricket , football , athletics , rackets and real tennis , displaying an ability that made him...
, Godfrey Webb, and George Wyndham
George Wyndham
George Wyndham PC was a British Conservative politician, man of letters, noted for his elegance, and one of The Souls.-Background and education:...
. Considered a brilliant conversationalist by his contemporaries, he had a reputation as a womaniser and was the father of socialite and philanthropist Lady Diana Cooper
Lady Diana Cooper
Lady Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was an English socialite and actress.-Birth and youth:Born Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners, she was officially the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland and his wife, the former Violet Lindsay, but Lady Diana's real father was widely supposed...
, by the Duchess of Rutland
Marion Margaret Violet Lindsay
Violet Lindsay Manners, Duchess of Rutland was a British artist and noblewoman.-Family:She was the second daughter of Charles Hugh Lindsay and Emilia Anne Browne...
, though this was not acknowledged until much later. Cust was also rumoured to be the natural father of Beatrice Stephenson Roberts, the mother of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, and though there was no solid proof of this connection, Lady Diana Cooper often jokingly referred to Mrs. Thatcher as her niece.
In 1892, Cust met with William Waldorf Astor
William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor
William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor was a very wealthy American who became a British nobleman. He was a member of the prominent Astor family.-Life in United States:...
, who invited him to edit Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
. Despite lacking any background in journalism, Cust accepted immediately. He soon transformed the newspaper into the best evening journal of the period, thanks in part to contributors such as Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
and H.G. Wells. Yet Cust rejected contributions submitted by Astor (who had literary aspirations); this, coupled with political disagreements, led to Cust's dismissal in February 1896.
After leaving the Pall Mall Gazette, Cust continued his career as an author. He wrote several poems, most notably "Non nobis domine". During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Cust was active in propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
on behalf of the British Government. In August 1914, he founded the Central Committee for National Patriotic Organizations. He died in 1917 of a heart attack at his home in Hyde Park Gate, London. He was heir to the barony of Brownlow
Baron Brownlow
Baron Brownlow, of Belton in the County of Lincoln, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1776 for Sir Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet. The Cust family descends from Richard Cust who represented Lincolnshire and Stamford in Parliament. In 1677 he was created a Baronet, of...
, a position which at his death fell to his brother, Adelbert Salusbury Cust (b. 1867).
Marriage
As the result of a purported pregnancy, he married in 1893 Emmeline Mary Elizabeth Welby-Gregory (1867–1955), known as Nina, who was the daughter of Victoria, Lady Welby. The pregnancy was either false or a misrepresentation, and the couple, whose marriage was thereafter contentious, did not have any children. Nina Cust was a translator and editor of her mother's papers. She and her husband are buried together in Belton, LincolnshireBelton, Lincolnshire
Belton is a village in the civil parish of Belton and Manthorpe, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies north of Grantham, on the A607 road.The Saxon meaning of Belton is a bell-shaped hollow.-The Village:...
, with a monument designed by her.
Illegitimate descendants
In 2009, it came to light that Cust was the great-grandfather of writer Allegra HustonAllegra Huston
-Biography:Huston was born in London, England. Her mother was the American ballerina Enrica "Ricki" Soma and her biological father is John Julius Norwich ....
, biological daughter of British peer John Julius Norwich
John Julius Norwich
John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
and stepdaughter of American film-maker John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
, via her grandmother, Lady Diana Cooper
Lady Diana Cooper
Lady Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was an English socialite and actress.-Birth and youth:Born Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners, she was officially the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland and his wife, the former Violet Lindsay, but Lady Diana's real father was widely supposed...
, Cust's daughter via a covert liaison.
Anita Leslie, in her book Marlborough House Set, implies that Cust had many more children with aristocratic lovers than just Diana Cooper. She writes (pg. 248):
- so much of the Cust strain entered England's peerage, and that from such a number of cradles there gazed babies with eyes like large sapphires instead of the black boot buttons of their legal fathers.
Legacy
- An annual Cust Lecture “on some important current topic relating to the British EmpireBritish EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
” was endowed in Nottingham University to commemorate his work. - His Occasional Poems appeared in 1918, printed in Jerusalem.
Further Reading
- Anita Leslie, The Marlborough House Set, Doubleday, New York, 1973 - Contains an entire chapter on Cust (Chapter 23, pp. 241-248)