Baron Brownlow, of Belton in the County of Lincoln, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1776 for Sir Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet. The Cust family descends from Richard Cust (1622–1700) of The Black Friars, Stamford, who represented Lincolnshire and Stamford in Parliament. In 1677 he was created a baronet, "of Stamford in the County of Lincoln". He was succeeded by his grandson Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet, who married Anne Brownlow, daughter of Sir William Brownlow, 4th Baronet, "of Humby", Lincolnshire, and sister and sole heiress of John Brownlow, 1st Viscount Tyrconnel, 5th Baronet of Belton House, Lincolnshire.
The 2nd Baronet's son Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet, sat as a Member of Parliament for Grantham and served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1761 to 1770 and in 1754 inherited the Brownlow estates, including Belton, on the death of his childless maternal uncle Viscount Tyrconnel. His son Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet, represented Ilchester, Somerset, and Grantham in Parliament and in 1776 was raised to the peerage as Baron Brownlow, "of Belton in the County of Lincoln", chiefly in recognition of his father's services. He was succeeded by his son John Cust, 2nd Baron Brownlow, who had sat as a Member of Parliament for Clitheroe, Lancashire, and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire for many years. In 1815 he was created Viscount Alford, "in the County of Lincoln", and Earl Brownlow, both in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1810 the future 1st Earl had married Sophia Hume, a daughter of Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet, of Wormleybury, by his wife Lady Amelia Egerton, a great-granddaughter of John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater.
Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet (1718–1770), Speaker of the House of Commons and father of the 1st Baron Brownlow
Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow
Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow, of Belton House near Grantham in Lincolnshire, was a British Tory Member of Parliament.
A portrait of Brownlow Cust by Francis Cotes
Belton House, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, inherited in 1779 by 1st Baron Brownlow
Monument to Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow, by Richard Westmacott, in St Peter and St Paul's Church, Belton
Frances, Baroness Brownlow and her eldest son John, double portrait by George Romney