Tobias Rustat (bapt. 17 September 1608 – 15 March 1694 N. S.) was a courtier to King Charles II and a benefactor of the University of Cambridge. He is remembered for creating the first fund for the purchase of books at the Cambridge University Library. He was an investor in, and Assistant of, the Royal African Company, an English mercantile company involved in the slave trade. Life Rustat was born at Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, where his father Robert was vicar. His mother Alice was a sister of Robert Snoden, bishop of Carlisle, 1616–1621. He was baptised at Barrow on 17 September 1608. After an apprenticeship to a barber-surgeon in London, Rustat entered the service of Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh and attended him in his embassy to Venice, before becoming a servant to his nephew George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. An ardent Royalist, he acted as a courier between England and the exiled court. During the Second English Civil War, Rustat joined Buckingham in a 1648 uprising in Kent, where he saved the Duke's life. In 1648 he escaped to the continent with Buckingham. He was present following the Battle of Worcester (1651) and aided the escape of Charles II. In 1650 Rustat was made Yeoman of the Robes to Charles II, remaining in the position until the king's death in 1685. Rustat's personal wealth came from his career as a courtier and his loyalty to the king. He became an investor, alongside the king and his brother the Duke of York, in a series of trading companies including the Royal African Company and the Gambia Adventurers. Rustat played a role in running the Royal African Company, being elected for three one-year terms as an Assistant (equivalent of a company director) in 1676, 1679 and 1680. The Members of the Court of Assistants can be considered equivalent to a modern-day board of directors. Historian William Pettigrew has stated that this company “shipped more enslaved African women, men and children to the Americas than any other single institution during the entire period of the transatlantic slave trade” and that investors in the company were fully aware of its activities and intended to profit from this exploitation. In 1675, the University of Cambridge awarded Rustat a Master of Arts degree per literas regias. John Evelyn wrote of Rustat "He is a very simple, ignorant, but honest and loyal creature."