Robert Needham Cust
Encyclopedia
Robert Needham Cust was a British colonial administrator and linguist.
He was educated at Eton College
, Trinity College, Cambridge
, Haileybury
and the College of Fort William, Calcutta, graduating from the last-named institution in 1844. He then worked for the East India Company
, in Hoshiarpur
and Ambala
, in India. He retired in 1867, and began his linguistic writings. He was part of the Orientalism
movement and active within the British and Foreign Bible Society
.
He married Maria Adelaide, daughter of Henry Lewis Hobart, Dean of Windsor
. They had four children.
He was present at the battles of Mukdi, Firuzshah, and Sobraon
in 1845-46, and at the close of the Sikh campaign was placed in charge of a new province in the Punjab
. There he filled in succession every office in the judicial and revenue departments, 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. After returning to England he devoted himself to scientific research, philanthropy, and magisterial and municipal duties, declining reappointments in India. He was 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. In 1883 he wrote : "“the vast majority of the educated public appears to have accepted at least some aspect of the new racial doctrine.”
He was educated at Eton College
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"....
, 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...
, Haileybury
East India Company College
The East India College was a college in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in February 1806 as the training establishment for the British East India Company . At that time, the BEIC provided general and vocational education for young gentlemen of sixteen to eighteen years old,...
and the College of Fort William, Calcutta, graduating from the last-named institution in 1844. He then worked for the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, in Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourth century. In 1809 it was occupied by the forces of Maharaja Karanvir Singh and was united into the greater state of Punjab....
and Ambala
Ambala
Ambala is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border of the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantt and Ambala City, approximately 3 kilometers apart from each other...
, in India. He retired in 1867, and began his linguistic writings. He was part of the Orientalism
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
movement and active within the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
.
He married Maria Adelaide, daughter of Henry Lewis Hobart, Dean of Windsor
Dean of Windsor
The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as primus inter pares.-List of Deans of Windsor:* William Mugge, 1348* Walter Almaly, 1380...
. They had four children.
He was present at the battles of Mukdi, Firuzshah, and Sobraon
Battle of Sobraon
The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the British East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab...
in 1845-46, and at the close of the Sikh campaign was placed in charge of a new province in the Punjab
Punjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
. There he filled in succession every office in the judicial and revenue departments, 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. After returning to England he devoted himself to scientific research, philanthropy, and magisterial and municipal duties, declining reappointments in India. He was 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. In 1883 he wrote : "“the vast majority of the educated public appears to have accepted at least some aspect of the new racial doctrine.”
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 (from 1880) seven volumes
- Pictures of Indian Life (1881)
- Modern Languages of Africa (1883) two volumes
- Poems of Many Years and Many Places (1887, 1897) two volumes
- Three Lists of Bible Translations Actually Accomplished (1890)
- Africa Rediviva (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 modern languages of Oceania ( Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, Vol. 19, 1887, p. 369-392)