Background

Cust DNA Project Description and Objectives

Background to Objective #1

Background to Objective #s 2 & 3

Background to Objective # 5

Who can participate?

Cust DNA Project Description and Objectives

The surname ‘Cust’ in England can be found in records dating back as early as the 1200s.  However, its speculated origin goes back even earlier to the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, to a man by the name of Joceus/Goisfridus le Flemangh, called “Coste”,

Objectives:

1.       To determine the relationship (proximity) between the male lines of Cust in Ireland.

2.       To prove the speculated relationship between the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Cust families.

3.       To determine/prove other lines of male descent from Joceus le Flemangh.

4.       To determine if there exists any genetic relationship in the male line between the surname Cust and etymologically similar surnames from anywhere in the world: Cast, Cost, Coste, de Coste, Coust, et al (C*st).

5.       To identify the possible surnames of the unknown wives of the Irish Cust males.

Background to Objective #1

One of the Yorkshire branch, Henry Cust (1646-1717), migrated to Ireland (now Northern Ireland), finally settling in the parish of Magilligan (a.k.a. Tamlaghtard) in County Derry.

During the Irish Civil War, two selfish acts of war destroyed much of Ireland’s historical records: in 1921, the Custom House, Dublin, and in 1922, the Public Records Office, located in part of the Four Courts, Dublin, both lost significant portions of their holdings – over a thousand years of documents.    The recording of vital statistics for Ireland did not begin until 1845 for non-Catholic marriages, and not until 1864 for births, deaths, and Catholic marriages.  The censuses of Ireland predating 1901 had all been deliberately destroyed prior to the aforementioned catastrophes in the early 1920s.  Finally, the dates of the surviving parish registers for Magilligan/Tamlaghtard are less than adequate:

·         Church of Ireland – while the earliest entries for all three events is 1747, there are gaps as follows:

o   baptisms – gaps 1765-1816, 1819-1830, 1840-1843

o   marriages – gaps 1754-1819, 1830-1831, 1835-1844

o   burials – gaps 1777-1823, 1830, 1841-1843

·         Catholic Church – both baptisms & marriages start in 1833; burials, not until 1863.

·         Presbyterian Church – baptisms & marriages survive from Sep 1814 (though church was established as early as 1802)

Despite this impediment, Janelle Cust of Australia has done extensive research on the Cust family of Magilligan using what records are still available and has reconstructed the Magilligan Cust family tree.  While Henry left many descendants, there are only four known lines that have living descendants in the male line:

1.       Robert Cust (1790-1869) – though he died in Ireland, all his children immigrated to Australia.  Janelle Cust has identified Robert as being a great-great-grandson of Henry, through his son John.

2.       Joseph Cust (1777/8-1840) – immigrated to Pennsylvania, USA.  Though further documentation will be required, he can be tentatively placed within the family – also as a great-great-grandson of Henry, but through Henry’s son Richard.

3.       William Cust (1795-1868) – his line is represented in two locations in North America through two of his grandsons (brothers): James (1855/6-1901) – while he died in Magilligan, his widow & children all immigrated to Alberta, Canada; and John (1858-1914) – immigrated to New Jersey, USA.  William’s father’s identity is unknown and no indirect information has been discovered to date that would permit even a speculative placement.

4.       Henry Cust (dates unknown) – immigrated first to New Brunswick, Canada, then to Maine, USA; Henry may quite possibly be the Henry Cust, baptized in 1810, son of another Henry Cust; however, as with William, that Henry’s placement within the family has not been ascertained either.

While Y-DNA will not identify the name of the fathers of the aforementioned men, it may enable determinations such as are any 2 of the 4 lines more closely related to one another than either is to the remaining two?  For example, is the Alberta, Canada/New Jersey, USA line, more closely related to the Maine line, than either is to the Australian or Pennsylvanian lines?      

Background to Objective #s 2 & 3

A bit of geography first – of the four counties (shires) that are mentioned below, Yorkshire is the most northern.  From east to west, the northern boundaries of the counties of Derby, Nottingham, and Lincoln are the southern boundary of Yorkshire.

On page 170 of her work, Records of the Cust Family of Pinchbeck, Stamford and Belton in Lincolnshire (1894), Lady Elizabeth Cust states [2^nd paragraph]:

“...There is at Belton what appears to be the original emblazonment of these arms on parchment, which has an endorsement at the back in the very neat and peculiar handwriting of Sir Richard Cust the son and heir of Samuel Cust.  After describing the arms..., the writing continues, “This Coate Armes belonginge to ye Custs formerly seated in Yorkshire, more lately att Pinchbecke in ye county of Lincoln, for above 300 yeeres past, 1639.”...This endorsement moreover is interesting in another way, as it shews how long the tradition has been that the Custs originally came from Yorkshire.  This story, although often repeated in peerages and other works which refer to the history of the Cust family, appears to rest on no good foundation, and I have therefore omitted to refer to it in my first chapter when treating of the earlier Custs.  Nevertheless, as it is not impossible that such was the origin of the family, I feel bound to draw the attention of my readers to the fact that Sir Richard Cust evidently fully believed that his ancestors had some 300 years before 1639 migrated from Yorkshire to Pinchbeck.” 

In his work, The Feudal History of the County of Derby, Vol. VI, John Pym Yeatman devoted an entire chapter to the Custs of Lincolnshire.  On pages 278-279 is found a pedigree of the Costes of Cuckney, of which Joceus le Fleming is the head – and the ancestor of the Cust family of Lincolnshire is identified (speculated).  Yeatman’s work clearly identifies Nottinghamshire as the original seat of Joceus le Flemangh, the alleged male line ancestor of the Cust family.  Throughout the chapter, there are several pedigrees, constructed by Yeatman, which pertain to the male line descendants of Joceus (as well as several prominent families who married into the line). 

Between the aforementioned two works, and the History of the Welles Family in Normandy and England, by Albert Welles, New York, 1867, we can compile a list of possible surnames of male line descendants of Joceus that may have been carried into the present day.  These include (NB: at the time these were known to be in use, the French “de” preceded the name, but in most cases, if the name survived, the “de” would have been dropped, so I have left it off):

·         Cheyle

·         Cockney, Cuckney

·         Flete

·         Hardewick, Hardwick

·         Le Savage

·         Pinchbeck

·         Salvain, Salvanus, Salvayn, Salvayne, Salvin, Salveyn, Selveyn, etc.

·         Saracen, Saracin

·         Stepyng, Steping

·         Steynesby, Steinsby

·         Wells, Welles

I will leave it at that for now, as the purpose of the aforementioned is not to regurgitate the information from those works, nor to agree with or dispute it, rather to illustrate a basis for the hypothesis of a common origin for the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Cust families, as well as the other possible male lines of descent from Joceus le Flemangh.

There is another Cust family in Yorkshire whose surname was not Cust prior to the 19^th century: a couple by the name of Rev. Daniel Mitford Peacock (1768-1840) & his wife, Catherine (Edwards) Peacock (c.1777-1865).  The Rev. Peacock received an inheritance from the Lincolnshire branch, but was required to change his surname to Cust in order to take receipt of that inheritance.  So while his male descendants bear the surname Cust, their Y-DNA was historically associated with the surname Peacock.  Though the Y-DNA of males in this line will not contribute directly to any of the goals of the Cust project, the members of that lineage are still welcome to participate in the Cust DNA project and are also encouraged to join the Peacock Surname Project registered with FamilyTreeDNA.  

Background to Objective # 5

See the second paragraph under “Background to Objectives 2 & 3” above, regarding the state of Irish records as an introduction.

Many of the wives of the Cust males in the first few generations after the first Henry migrated to Ireland are either completely unknown, or known by only a given name.  This final objective follows the maternal line of the wives of Cust males in the Magilligan Irish line.  It needs to be noted that of all five objectives, this is the least likely to achieve any results in the near future – this is a long term objective, which will depend on other women not descended from a Cust, but who can prove her descent. 

Who can participate?

Males

·         Any man surnamed Cust (or any of the etymological variants – Cast, Cost, Coste, de Coste, etc.), or any man whose known biological father is surnamed Cust

·         Any man who has documented evidence that leads him to believe that he is a lineal male line descendant of Joceus le Flemangh.  Please contact me directly for further information.

·         Any man whose mother’s mother’s mother’s mother (etc.) was a Mrs. Cust of Ireland

Females

·         Any woman whose mother’s mother’s mother’s mother (etc.) was a Mrs. Cust of Ireland – or a Miss Cust of Ireland whose father’s name is not known.

Males OR Females

·         One of the possible tests that could assist in the achievement of objective #1 only, could be taken by any Cust descendant, male or female, descended through males or females.  For this test, it’s not the sex that is the determining factor, but the number of generations you are from the person of interest – any more than 5 generations and this test is of little use.  Essentially, if you were born after the 1930s, chances are that you are already in a generation too late.  Based on the ages of the four males of interest (i.e., Joseph, Robert, William, & Henry, as mentioned above) the best candidates for this test would likely be in their eighties or older.  

I have set this project as requiring authorization to join.  The purpose of this is to ensure that those who join know which test(s) he/she needs to take to contribute to the realization of the objectives of this project.  I would not want anyone to order and pay for a particular test, thinking it is the one required, only to find out it was not.

That said, FamilyTreeDNA offers many different and interesting tests, so once I have authorized your request to join the Cust project, you can order as many of the different tests as you want for your own personal interest, if any – the results of those tests just won’t be included in the Cust project.

If you have any questions, I am more than happy to answer them.  You can send me a message to the email address I set up for this project.  The first part of the address is “Cust.YDNA”; the second part, “gmail” (both without the quotes).  Insert the @ symbol between the two.

Site last updated: Thursday, December 8^th, 2011

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