Elizabeth Cust, Mrs John Cockayne (1649-1739)

Brian Birde (fl.1686). Oil painting on canvas, Elizabeth Cust, Mrs John Cockayne (1649-1739) by Brian Birde (fl.1686), signed and dated: Brianus Birdeus Pinxit: Anno: 86 (1686) on lower right rim of painted sculptured oval. Painted oval. Half-length portrait, turned to right, facing, dark hair, wearing a low cut chemise, with jewelled button at breast. Ringlet of hair falling over her right shoulder onto tasselled classical drape. Elizabeth Cust was born in 1649 the daughter of Sir Richard Cust, 1st Bt (1622-1700) and Beatrice Pury (1623-1715) married in 1670 John Cockayne of Cockayne Hatley, Bedfordshire which, after the death of their only son Samuel in 1745, passed successively to cadet members of the Cust family, who incorporated the name Cockayne into their own. They had two children: (i) Elizabeth 'Betty' Cockayne (1674-1736) and (ii) Samuel Cockayne (d.1745) Belton House, Lincolnshire (Accredited Museum)