Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow


Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow , of Belton House near Grantham in Lincolnshire, was a British Tory Member of Parliament.

Origins

He was the son and heir of Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet, Speaker of the House of Commons, by his wife Etheldreda Payne, a daughter of Thomas Payne of Hough-on-the-Hill, Lincolnshire.

Career

He was educated at Eton College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1766 he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Ilchester in Somerset, a seat he held until 1774, and then represented Grantham between 1774 and 1776, in which year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Brownlow, "of Belton in the County of Lincoln". The peerage was chiefly in recognition of his father's services, and the name of his title refers to his paternal grandmother Anne Brownlow, sister and heiress in her issue of John Brownlow, 1st Viscount Tyrconnel, of Belton House, and wife of Sir Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet. In 1776 he was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and in 1783 was made a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Inherits Belton

In 1779 he inherited Belton House, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, under the will of his paternal grandmother, Anne Brownlow, wife of Sir Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet and sister, and in her issue heiress, of John Brownlow, 1st Viscount Tyrconnel, of Belton House.

Marriages and progeny

He married twice: