Benjamin Guinness
Encyclopedia
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
brewer and philanthropist.
Brewer
Born in Dublin, he was the third son of the second Arthur Guinness (1768–1855), and his wife Anne Lee, and a grandson of the latter's namesakeArthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.He was also an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist....
(1725–1803) who founded the Guinness brewery
St. James's Gate Brewery
St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed via the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product produced at the brewery is Guinness Draft.Leased for 9,000 years in 1759 by...
in 1759. He joined his father in the business at an early age, and in 1839 took sole control. By 1855, when his father died, Guinness had become the richest man in Ireland, having built up a huge export trade and by continually enlarging his brewery.
Dublin politician
In 1851 he was elected the first Lord Mayor of DublinLord Mayor of Dublin
The Lord Mayor of Dublin is the honorific title of the Chairman of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent is Labour Party Councillor Andrew Montague. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the...
under the reformed corporation.
In 1863 he was made an honorary LL.D. (Doctor of Laws) by Trinity College Dublin, and on 15 April 1867 was created a baronet by patent, in addition to which, on 18 May 1867, by royal license, he had a grant of supporters to his family arms.
Guinness was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in 1865 as a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
representative for Dublin City
Dublin City (UK Parliament constituency)
Dublin City was an Irish Borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It comprised the city of Dublin in the county of Dublin, and was represented by two Members of Parliament from its creation in 1801 until 1885.In 1885, Dublin City was split...
, serving until his death. His party's leader was Lord Derby
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...
. Previously he had supported the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Lord Palmerston, but in the 1860s the Liberals proposed higher taxation on drinks such as beer. Before 1865 the Irish Conservative Party
Irish Conservative Party
The Irish Conservative Party, often called the Irish Tories, was one of the dominant Irish political parties in Ireland in the 19th century...
did not entirely support British conservative policy, but did so after the Irish Church Act 1869.
Philanthropist
From 1860 to 1865, he undertook, at his own expense, the restoration of the city's St Patrick's CathedralSt. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
Saint Patrick's Cathedral , or more formally, the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Patrick is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland which was founded in 1191. The Church has designated it as The National Cathedral of Ireland...
, an enterprise that cost over £150,000. In 1865 the building was restored to the dean and chapter, and reopened for services on 24 February.
The citizens of Dublin and the dean and chapter of St. Patrick's presented him with addresses on 31 December 1865, expressive of their gratitude for what he had done for the city. The addresses were in two volumes, which were afterwards exhibited at the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Exhibition.
In recognition of his generosity, he was made a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in 1867. He was one of the ecclesiastical commissioners for Ireland
Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners
The Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners was established in 1833 to supersede the Board of First Fruits. It was created to overcome criticisms against the established church by enforcing a reform of the church. Ten dioceses were dissolved by joining them with neighboring dioceses and their...
, a governor of Simpson's Hospital, and vice-chairman of the Dublin Exhibition Palace. He died the following year at his Park Lane
Park Lane (road)
Park Lane is a major road in the City of Westminster, in Central London.-History:Originally a country lane running north-south along what is now the eastern boundary of Hyde Park, it became a fashionable residential address from the eighteenth century onwards, offering both views across Hyde Park...
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
home. At the time of his death he was engaged in the restoration of Archbishop Marsh's public library
Marsh's Library
Marsh's Library, situated in St. Patrick's Close, adjacent to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland is the oldest public library in Ireland. It was built to the order of Archbishop Narcissus Marsh in 1701 and has a collection of over 25,000 books and 300 manuscripts.-Foundation:The library was...
, a building which adjoins St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was finished by his son Arthur.
He showed his practical interest in Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
archæology by carefully preserving the antiquarian remains existing on his large estates around Ashford Castle
Ashford Castle
Ashford Castle is a medieval castle turned five star luxury hotel near Cong on the Mayo/Galway Border in Ireland, on the shore of Lough Corrib. Ashford Castle is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World organization.-History:...
in County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, which he bought in 1855. Nearby Cong Abbey
Cong Abbey
Cong Abbey is a historic site located at Cong, on the borders of counties Galway and Mayo, in Ireland's province of Connacht. Founded in the early 7th century, by Saint Feichin, the abbey was destroyed by fire in the early 12th century. Turlough Mor O’Connor, the High King of Ireland, refounded the...
was well-known, and the famous Cross of Cong
Cross of Cong
The Cross of Cong is an early 12th century Irish Christian ornamented cusped processional cross, which was, as an inscription says, made for Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair , King of Connacht and High King of Ireland to donate to the Cathedral church of the period that was located at Tuam, County...
had been moved to a Dublin museum in 1839.
Family
On 24 February 1837 he married his first cousin Elizabeth Guinness, third daughter of Edward Guinness of Dublin, and they had three sons and a daughter, living at Beaumont House, BeaumontBeaumont, Dublin
Beaumont is a suburb of Dublin, located on the Northside. It lies within the postal district Dublin 9, sometimes known as D9. The name derives from the French for "beautiful mount".-History:...
, in north County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
. In 1856 he bought what is now Iveagh House
Iveagh House
Iveagh House is the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin. It is also sometimes used colloquially as a metonym referring to the department itself....
at 80 St Stephen's Green. Ashford Castle was described in William Wilde
William Wilde
Sir William Robert Wills Wilde MD, FRCSI, was an Irish eye and ear surgeon, as well as an author of significant works on medicine, archaeology and folklore, particularly concerning his native Ireland...
's book on Lough Corrib
Lough Corrib
Lough Corrib is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway river connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the second largest lough in Ireland . It covers 178 km² and lies mostly in County Galway with a small area of its northeast corner in County Mayo.The first canal in...
in the 1860s.
He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, Arthur
Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun
Arthur Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, 2nd Baronet , known as Sir Arthur Guinness, Bt, between 1868 and 1880, was an Irish businessman, politician, and philanthropist, best known for giving St Stephen's Green to the people of Dublin.-Background and education:Guinness was born at St Anne's,...
, who took over the brewery with his brother, the third son, Edward
Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh
Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, KP, GCVO, FRS was an Irish philanthropist and businessman.-Public life:...
. His second son Benjamin (1842–1900) moved to England and had a career in the Royal Horse Guards
Royal Horse Guards
The Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...
. His daughter Anne (1839–1889) married William, Lord Plunket in 1863. The present-day Guinness Baronets descend from his second son Benjamin.
He was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery
Mount Jerome Cemetery
Mount Jerome Cemetery is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials...
, Dublin, in the family vault, on 27 May. His personalty was sworn under £1,100,000 on 8 August 1868. A bronze statue of him by John Foley
John Henry Foley
John Henry Foley , often referred to as JH Foley, was an Irish sculptor, best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert in London. Both are still considered iconic in each city.-Life:...
was erected in St. Patrick's churchyard, on the south side of the cathedral, in September 1875, which was restored in 2006.