The Hon. William Cust (1787-1845)

The Hon. Elizabeth Cust (1776 - 1858). Oil painting on canvas, The Hon William Cust (1787-1845) by the Hon. Elizabeth Cust (1776-1858), signed with monogram,1805. Painted by his elder sister. Three-quarter length portrait of a young boy, facing, his head turned slightly to the left, gazing to the left, leaning on a stone plinth with his right arm and holding a white-plumed hat in his right hand, he is in the dress of a Salt bearer at the Eton Montem of 1805, composed of a scarlet jacket with black braid down the front with gilt buttons and a black stock. He has short blond curly hair.. Eton College beyond on the right. Hon. William Cust was born on 23 January 1787. He was the son of Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow of Belton (1744-1807) and Frances Bankes (1756-1847). He married Sophia Newnham (c.1790-1884), daughter of Thomas Newnham, on 8 July 1819. He was educated at Eton and became a barrister and Commissioner of Customs. Children of Hon. William Cust and Sophia Newnham 1.Captain William Purey Cust (1821-1865) 2.Very Rev. Arthur Perceval Purey-Cust (1828-1916) He died on 3 March 1845 at aged 58. Eton Montem (or ad Montem - literally to the Mountain) was a custom observed by Eton College from at least 1561 until it was finally suppressed in 1847, at the Montem Mound (or Salt Hill) in Chalvey, Slough, Buckinghamshire (later Berkshire). Montem is first reported in William Malim's Consuetudinarium (book of customs) of 1561, when it seems to have been an initiation ceremony for new boys, who were scattered with salt (which can mean 'wit' as well as 'salt') at the mound.By the 18th century, the ceremony had changed to a glorified flag day where money was collected as a contribution towards the University expenses of the senior Colleger. . Belton House, Lincolnshire (Accredited Museum)