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Rustat
Rustat Family History
Considered to be a variant of Rouse, Russe or Ruste, the name Rustat became prominent in the 17th century with the benefactions of Tobias Rustat (1606-1694), Yeoman of the Wardrobe to Charles II. The son and grandson of Rectors of Barrow on Soar in Leicestershire, Tobias entered the service of Viscount Fielding, English Ambassador to Venice from 1634-1639. Upon his return to England he transferred to the service of the young Duke of Buckingham who had been brought up at court with the children of Charles I and took the opportunity to acquire the reversion to the post of Yeoman of the Wardrobe to Charles II. This gave him the right to be appointed to this position when it became vacant, which in due course it did.
Having fought for the Royalist cause during the Civil War he accompanied Charles II into exile and proved to be a loyal and constant companion during Prince Charles' European peregrinations. He earned his reward upon the restoration and as yeoman of the wardrobe quietly amassed a significant fortune by means of a combination of personal frugality and shrewd investment (for example, he was a founder investor in the Royal Africa Company). As a bachelor without immediate dependents he endeavoured to give away as much of his fortune as he could during his lifetime. He commissioned statues of Charles II and James II (the latter still standing in Trafalgar Square), gave Cambridge University Library its first endowment and gave generously to support the widows and orphans of the clergy, a group who had suffered great hardships during the interregnum and with whose plight he was personally acquainted (his own brother had been deprived of his living). In particular he was concerned with the education of the sons of the clergy and his largest gift was that of £2000 to found the Rustat scholarship at Jesus College, where his father had been educated. The college website records that there have been 750 Rustat Scholars since then.
He was buried in Jesus College where there is a fine memorial to him by Grinling Gibbons and the College possesses a portrait of him by Sir Godfrey Kneller. A copy of which can be viewed via the following link: http://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/about-jesus-college/history/pen-portraits/tobias-rustat/
He was granted arms in 1676 by William Dugdale, Norroy King of Arms, with remainder to his male relatives; two of whom are mentioned in his will. To his kinsman, John Rustat, he bequeathed "my coat of armes in parchment signed by the King at Armes" and to his great nephew, Tobias Rustat of Withersfield (1668-1744) he left £2000 and three pairs of tennis socks. He left over £4000 at his death and it is estimated that he gave away over £11,000 during the last 20 years of his life.
The name Tobias continued down the generations and into associated families such as the Brownes.
The grandson of the Yeomans chief beneficiary above, the Rev Tobias Rustat was painted by Gainsborough in 1757 and this portrait is on display at Gainsboroughs House Museum in Sudbury.
Further information on the Rustat genealogy has proved hard to find.
The Rustat crest is described at www.myfamilysilver.com and the arms are described as "argent, on a saltire gules between four crosses crosslet fitchy sable, an annulet or." and are shown on the bookplate from John Titford's article below:
John Titford in his excellent article in the bookplate journal refers to the bookplate of Sir Tobias Rustat but I have been unable to find any other reference to a knight of this name. If it had been the Yeoman of the Robes I am sure that a knighthood would have been recorded on his monument at Jesus College.
Further reading:
W Hewitt: "Memoirs of Tobias Rustat, Yeoman of the Robes" 1849
J C T Oates: "Cambridge University Library, A History" 1988 - p 375-380
John Titford: "The Bookplate Journal" Volume 9 Number 1 p29-38
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