Arthur Edward Rory Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh, (born 25 August 1969), styled Viscount Elveden until 1992, is an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

and businessman. He is a member of the

Guinness family The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout Guinnes ...

Biography

, Iveagh is the son of

Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh Arthur Francis Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh (20 May 1937 – 18 June 1992), styled Viscount Elveden between 1945 and 1967, was an Irish businessman and politician. He was chairman of Guinness plc from 1962 to 1986, and then its president ...

, and his wife

Miranda Smiley Miranda Daphne Jane Guinness, Countess of Iveagh (''née'' Smiley; 19 August 1939 – 30 December 2010) was a Scottish aristocrat who married into the Guinness family. Life She was the daughter of Major Michael Smiley, of Castle Fraser, Kemnay ...

, and is known to his family and friends as Edward, or Ned, Iveagh. Becoming

Earl of Iveagh Earl of Iveagh (pronounced —especially in Dublin—or ) is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1919 for the businessman and philanthropist Edward Guinness, 1st Viscount Iveagh. He was the third son of Sir Benjamin Guin ...

on his father's death on 18 June 1992, when he was aged 23, he was then one of the youngest

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

s entitled to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, which he regularly attended. He did not join a political party but sat as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

. On 11 November 1999, he was among the majority of the hereditary members who were removed from the Lords by the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

. On 27 October 2001, Iveagh married the interior designer Clare Hazell at St Andrew's and St Patrick's church,

Elveden, Suffolk Elveden is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. In 2005 it had a population of 270. The village is bypassed by the A11 between Cambridge and Norwich, which ran through the centre of the vill ...

. The couple have two sons, including Arthur, Viscount Elveden (born 2002). Iveagh lives on the Elveden Estate in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which comprises some 2.6% of the county. The land is occupied as a single arable farm for growing root vegetables, with cereals as a break crop. Approximately is woodland. In 1999 Iveagh sold his family's Irish home,

Farmleigh Farmleigh is the official Irish state guest house. It was formerly one of the Dublin residences of the Guinness family. It is situated on an elevated position above the River Liffey to the north-west of the Phoenix Park, in Castleknock. The est ...

and its park, adjacent to the

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, to the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

for the market price of €29.2m (£18.9m).

Arms

References

External links

*
A Year in the Life of a Country Estate
– A series of 12 articles about Elveden from the BBC, dating from 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Iveagh, Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of 1969 births Living people 20th-century Anglo-Irish people 21st-century Anglo-Irish people

Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh Arthur Edward Rory Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh, (born 25 August 1969), styled Viscount Elveden until 1992, is an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and businessman. He is a member of the Guinness family. Biography An Anglo-Irish aristocrat, Iveagh is ...

Earls of Iveagh Deputy Lieutenants of Suffolk Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers People from Elveden People from County Kildare