Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Cust, Robert Needham
CUST, ROBERT NEEDHAM (1821–1909), orientalist, born at Cockayne Hatley, Bedfordshire, on 24 Feb. 1821, was second son of Henry Cockayne Cust (1780–1861), canon of Windsor, by his wife Lady Anna Maria Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Francis Needham, first earl of Kilmorey. His father was second son of Sir Brownlow Cust, first baron Brownlow (1744–1807). Educated at Eton, Robert was intended for the bar, but accepting a nomination for the Indian civil service, he passed to Haileybury College, where he greatly distinguished himself in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and Hindustani. At Calcutta in 1843 he completed his studies in the college of Fort William, receiving medals and a degree of honour besides qualifying in Bengali.
His first appointment in the public service was as assistant to the magistrate of Ainbala, then the headquarters of the political administration of Northern India. He next became personal assistant to Major George Broadfoot [q. v.], newly appointed agent to the governor-general for the then north-western frontier. While he was marching with his chief through the domains of the Cis Satlaj protected chiefs, news of the Sikh invasion took them to the front and he engaged in the great battles on the Satlaj in 1845 at Mudki, Ferozeshah, and Sobraon. At Ferozeshah (21-2 Dec. 1845) Major Broadfoot was killed in action, and Cust, albeit a junior officer, carried on for a time the duties of governor-general's agent. His services were mentioned in the governor-general's despatch, and he was appointed by Lord Hardinge to the charge of a district in the newly formed province of the Punjab, that of Hoshiarpur. He had little experience to guide him; but under the inspiration of his new chief, John (afterwards Lord) Lawrence [q. v.], he organised the district on a 'non-regulation' system of firmness and kindness; living alone amongst the people, without soldiers or policemen the court held under the green mango trees in the presence of hundreds. Here Cust developed an intense love for India and its people. 'The experience of half a century,' he remarked later, 'has given the stamp of approval to our strong but benevolent, rigorous but sympathetic system.'
From Hoshiarpur he was moved to his old district of Ambala, and took its administration vigorously in hand. Cust, if lacking in magnetic power, showed himself a masterly organiser and administrator, and an indefatigable and methodical worker. After the second Sikh war, which ended decisively in March 1849 with the annexation of the Punjab, the government commissioned Cust to report on the country and its capabilities. He visited every district in the newly acquired territory, and after nearly two years' immense labour he presented his report in 1851. Cust then proceeded to England on a brief furlough. Returning to India, he was appointed magistrate of Benares, and afterwards to the more important charge of Banda in Bundelkand, and in three years he put the district, which was in a most unsatisfactory condition, into perfect order. In recognition of his services he was offered the more important post of magistrate and collector of Delhi, but fortunately for himself declined it. The officer who accepted the post was a victim of the Delhi massacre.
Cust was in England at the outbreak of the mutiny of 1857, being called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 13 Aug. 1857. Returning to India in February 1858, he was immediately appointed at the special request of Sir John Lawrence to be commissioner of the Lahore division of the Punjab, and when that division was found too large and was subdivided, he chose the moiety forming the division of Amritsar. For a time he acted as financial commissioner of the province, and in 1861 as judicial commissioner. The death of his first wife on 17 Jan. 1864 brought him back to England, but he returned to India in October to join the legislative council, and to act temporarily as home secretary to the supreme government (1864-5). From another visit to England he was recalled to fill the important post of member of the board of revenue in the North-west Provinces, but the death at Allahabad after childbirth in August 1867 of his second wife determined Cust to retire altogether from the Indian service just nine months before completing his service for a full pension.
In England Cust gradually recovered his energies. He studied Hebrew and completed the draft of a code of revenue law for Northern India. For a time he helped in the preparation of the Oxford 'Dictionary of the English Language' edited by Sir James Murray. Although he had rowed at Eton, he cared nothing for sports or games, and henceforth found recreation in foreign travel, while devoting himself at home to Oriental and religious studies, which he pursued with characteristic industry and method. Without being a profound scholar he had some acquaintance with Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu or Hindustani, Panjabi, Bengali, as well as with the chief European languages. Between 1870 and 1909 he published more than sixty volumes chiefly on Oriental philology or phases of religious belief. His 'Modern Languages of the East Indies' (1878) was followed by a scholarly description of the 'Modern Languages of Africa' (1883), which was translated into Italian (1885), 'Oceania' (1887), 'The Caucasian Group' (1887), 'The Turki Branch of the Ural-Altaic Family' (1889). 'Linguistic and Oriental Essays,' in seven series, were issued between 1880 and 1904. Less laborious works included, apart from translations into French Italian and Greek, 'Poems of Many Years and Places' (2ser. 1887, 1897), 'Clouds on the Horizon or Forms of Religious Error' (1890); 'Common Features which appear in all Religions of the World' (1895); 'Five Essays on Religious Conceptions' (1897), and 'Life Memoir' (1899). Cust was prominent in the proceedings of many literary societies. With the Royal Asiatic Society, which he formed in 1851, his association was especially long and active; he was appointed member of council and honorary librarian in 1872, and from 1878 to 1899 was honorary secretary; he was also a vice-president, and read many papers at its meetings. Making annual tours abroad through Europe, West Africa, and Western Asia, and coming to know numerous foreign scholars, Cust represented the Asiatic Society at the Oriental Congresses of London, St. Petersburg, Florence, Berlin, Leyden, Vienna, and Stockholm. He was interested in missionary enterprise and philanthropic work, and served on the committees of the Church Missionary Society and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He was made honorary LL.D. of Edinburgh in 1885.
Cust, who had attended the coronation of William IV in 1831, and that of Queen Victoria in 1838, was also present at that of Edward VII in 1902. In 1904 his sight failed, but he pursued his studies with assistance until 1908, when his strength gave way. He died on 28 Oct. 1909 at his residence, Campden Hill Road, Kensington, and was buried at Putney Vale.
Cust was thrice married: (1) on 10 May 1856 to Maria Adelaide, second daughter of Henry Lewis Hobart, dean of Windsor; she died on 17 Jan. 1864, leaving two sons and three daughters; (2) on 28 Dec. 1865 to Emma, eldest daughter of E. Carlyon, rector of Debden, Hampshire; she died on 10 Aug. 1867; (3) on 11 Nov. 1868 to Elizabeth Dewar, only daughter of J. Mathews; by her he had a daughter, Anna Maria Elizabeth. His son, Robert Henry Hobart Cust, is a well-known writer on art, and his daughters showed literary aptitude.
A portrait was painted by Miss Carpenter in 1840, of which three copies were made : one is at the Provost's Lodge, Eton; a second belongs to Sir Reginald Cust, and a third to Gust's son, Mr. Robert Cust. He also appears as a child in a large group by Samuel William Reynolds, now in the possession of Mr. Henry Cust. A native painting, executed in Calcutta (c. 1843), also belongs to Mr. Robert Cust.
[Cust's Life Memoir, 1899; The limes, 29 Oct. 1909; Royal Asiatic Society's Journal, 1910. i. 255; private information.]