CUST, Sir John, 3rd Bt. (1718-70), Belton, Lincs.

Cust was returned at a by-election in 1743 on the interest of his uncle, Lord Tyrconnel, for Grantham, which he represented without a contest till his death. In his first Parliament he voted with the Government till 1746, when he was classed as Old Whig. Going over in 1747 to the new Leicester House opposition, he was appointed clerk of the household to the Prince of Wales, with the duty of supervising the royal bills of fare.Recs. Cust. Fam. iii. 46-47. At Leicester House his chief friend was the 2nd Lord Egmont, who about 1750 put him down alternatively for secretary or lord of the Treasury in the next reign. He lost his post on Frederick’s death but was reinstated when one of the clerks of the Princess dowager’s household died a few weeks later. Thenceforth he supported the Government till the end of 1755 when with most of the late Prince’s servants he followed Pitt into opposition. He died 24 Jan. 1770.