The story begins with Bill Cust, known as ‘old Bill Cust’ and as ‘Dancing Bill,’ who was the first of the Cust family from County Derry in Ireland to come to North America.
- Bill Cust, the adventurer, who, at the age of 24, left County Derry in a ‘coffin ship’ bound for Philadelphia and crossed the American prairies in a ox-drawn wagon to the California gold rush;
- Bill Cust, the miner, who found his own weight in gold;
- Bill Cust, the prospector, who wandered the wilds of British Columbia in a further search for gold;
- Bill Cust, the fur trader, who set up Cust House on the mighty Peace River in opposition to the Hudson’s Bay Company;
- Bill Cust, the farmer, who owned Cut Bank Farm west of St Albert, on which he grew the first wheat sold commercially in Alberta;
- Bill Cust, the benefactor, who in the early 1900s paid the passage for his nephew James Cust’s widow and children to come to Strathcona in what was then known as the Northwest Territory of Canada.
From Irish Roots…traces the descendants of James Cust and Rose Allen Cust from the early 1900s to 2012, with photos and personal stories of the original Cust family and of many of their children and grandchildren.
Explore your family heritage as you read about the spirited men and courageous women who were pioneers in the settlement of Alberta.
Find your place in the Cust family tree.
If you did not preorder a copy of From Irish Roots… but you would like to buy one, please contact me through this web site. At the present time, a second printing is not planned. However, I will keep a list of people who want to buy copies and will re-evaluate the printing decision at a later date.