File BHH/1/175 - Letter from Sir Robert Cust to Mrs Hodgson, 10 February 1880

Identity area

Reference code

GB 891 BHH-BHH/1-BHH/1/175

Title

Letter from Sir Robert Cust to Mrs Hodgson, 10 February 1880

Date(s)

  • 10th Feb 1880 (Creation)

Level of description

File

Extent and medium

Context area

Name of creator

(24/2/1821 – 27/10/1909)

Biographical history

Born on 24/2/1821 to Reverend Henry Cockayne Cust, he was educated at Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge, Haileybury (1840–42) and the College of Fort William, Calcutta, graduating in 1844. He then worked in the Bengal Civil Services for the East India Company, in Hoshiarpur and Ambala (assistant to the magistrate), in India. He was present at the battles of Mudki, Ferozeshah, and Sobraon in 1845–46, where his superior Major George Broadfoot was killed and at the close of the Sikh campaign he was placed in charge of a new province in the Punjab. There he filled in succession every office in the judicial and revenue departments across Punjab, 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.

Cust returned to England briefly on furlough and returned to work in Benares and Banda. Cust was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 13 August 1857. He returned to India and served in Lahore until 1864. He later joined the legislative council and acted as home secretary to the government (1864–65). In 1867 he decided to retire from Indian service.

After retiring to England Cust devoted himself to scientific research, philanthropy, and magisterial and municipal duties, declining reappointments in India. He was a 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.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Letter from Sir Robert Cust to Mrs Hodgson apologising for failing to comply with her request to send a photo, which he now encloses. He writes that he has sent off his review of Hodgson's book to The Academy and that the book is a great accomplishment. Handwritten, 4 sides, dated 10 February 1880.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

    Script of material

      Language and script notes

      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Finding aids

      Allied materials area

      Existence and location of originals

      Existence and location of copies

      Related units of description

      Related descriptions

      Notes area

      Alternative identifier(s)

      Access points

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Name access points

      Genre access points

      Description control area

      Description identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Accession area