![Benjamin Guinness ILN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Benjamin_Guinness_ILN.jpg)
Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, 1st Baronet (1 November 1798 – 19 May 1868) was an Irish brewer and philanthropist.
Brewer
Born in
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 ...
, he was the third son of
the second Arthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness (12 March 1768 – 9 June 1855) was an Irish brewer, banker, politician and flour miller active in Dublin, Ireland. To avoid confusion with his father, also Arthur Guinness (1725–1803), he is often known as "the second Arthur Gu ...
(1768–1855), and his wife Anne Lee, and a grandson of the first
Arthur
Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...
(1725–1803), who had bought the
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 from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...
in 1759. He joined his father in the business in his late teens, without attending university, and from 1839 he took sole control within
the family. From 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.
In numbers, sales of his single and double stouts had been 78,000
hogshead
A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commodity). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily applied to alcoho ...
s in 1855, which he nearly trebled to 206,000 hogsheads in 1865. Of these, some 112,000 were sold in Ireland, as the rural economy recovered from the
Great Famine of the 1840s, and 94,000 were exported to Britain.
By 1870, soon after his death, sales had risen further to 256,000 hogsheads, of which 120,000 were exported to Britain. Benjamin had also created the capacity for his sons to expand sales much further, and by 1879 these reached 565,000 hogsheads.
As a part of the brewery expansion, and to ensure deliveries, he invested in the new
Irish railway companies from the 1840s. By 1867 the firm owned £86,000-worth of Irish railway stock (worth over £135m in 2013 values, taken as a share of GDP).
Dublin politician
In 1851 he was elected the first
Lord Mayor of Dublin
The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...
under the reformed corporation.
In 1863 he was made an honorary
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
(Doctor of Laws) by
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
, and on 15 April 1867 was created a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
by patent, in addition to which, on 18 May 1867, by royal licence, he had a grant of
supporters
In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the Escutcheon (heraldry), shield and depicted holding it up.
Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. H ...
to his family arms.
Guinness was elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in 1865 as a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
representative for
Dublin City, serving until his death. His party's leader was
Lord Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...
. Previously he had supported the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Lord Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...
, but in the 1860s the Liberals proposed higher taxation on drinks such as beer. Before 1865 the
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. It was affiliated with the Conservative Party in Great Britain. Throughout much of the century it and th ...
did not entirely support British conservative policy, but did so after the
Irish Church Act 1869
The Irish Church Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which separated the Church of Ireland from the Church of England and disestablished the former, a body that commanded the adherence of a small min ...
. The government's most notable reform was the
Reform Act 1867
The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 (known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...
that expanded the franchise.
Philanthropist
![Ashford Castle's Guinness Tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Ashford_Castle%27s_Guinness_Tower.jpg)
From 1860 to 1865, he undertook at his own expense, and without hiring an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, the restoration of the city's
St Patrick's Cathedral, an enterprise that cost him 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 Exhibition.
In recognition of his generosity, he was made a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in 1867. He was one of the
ecclesiastical commissioners for Ireland, a governor of
Simpson's Hospital, and vice-chairman of the
Dublin Exhibition Palace
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...
. He died the following year at his
Park Lane
Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...
London home. At the time of his death he was engaged in the restoration of Archbishop
Marsh's public library, a building which adjoins St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was finished by his son Arthur.
He showed his practical interest in Irish archæology by carefully preserving the antiquarian remains existing on his large estates around
Ashford Castle
Ashford Castle is a medieval and Victorian castle that has been expanded over the centuries and turned into a five star luxury hotel near Cong on the Mayo-Galway border, on the Galway side of Lough Corrib in Ireland. It is a member of the Le ...
in
County Galway
"Righteousness and Justice"
, anthem = ()
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg
, map_caption = Location in Ireland
, area_footnotes =
, area_total_km2 = ...
, which he bought in 1855. Nearby
Cong Abbey
Cong Abbey also known as the Royal Abbey of Cong, is a historic site located at Cong Mayo, in Ireland's province of Connacht. The ruins of the former Augustinian abbey mostly date to the 13th century and have been described as featuring some o ...
was well-known, and the famous
Cross of Cong
The ''Cross of Cong'' ( ga, Cros Chonga, "the yellow baculum") is an early 12th-century Irish Christian ornamented cusped processional cross, which was, as an inscription says, made for Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (d. 1156), King of Connacht an ...
had been moved to a Dublin museum in 1839.
Family
![Benjamin Guinness](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Benjamin_Guinness.jpg)
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,
Beaumont
Beaumont may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beaumont, Alberta
* Beaumont, Quebec
England
* Beaumont, Cumbria
* Beaumont, Essex
** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s
* Beaumont Street, Oxford
France (communes)
* Beaumont, Ardèche
* ...
, in north
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg
, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
. In 1856 he bought what is now
Iveagh House
Iveagh House is a Georgian house which now contains the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, Ireland. It is also sometimes used colloquially as a metonym referring to the department itself.
Iveagh House was originally t ...
at 80
St Stephen's Green
St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by L ...
. Ashford Castle was described in
William Wilde
Sir William Robert Wills Wilde FRCSI (March 1815 – 19 April 1876) was an Irish oto- ophthalmologic surgeon and the author of significant works on medicine, archaeology and folklore, particularly concerning his native Ireland. He was the fat ...
's book on
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 largest lake within the Republic of Ireland and the second largest on the island of Ireland (after Lough Nea ...
in the 1860s.
He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son,
Arthur
Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...
, who took over the brewery with his brother, the third son,
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
. His second son Benjamin (1842–1900) married Henrietta, daughter of
Thomas St Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth
Thomas St Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth KP (16 August 1803 – 4 February 1874) was an Irish peer, styled Viscount St Lawrence until 1822.
He became Earl of Howth in 1822 on the death of his father, William St Lawrence, 2nd Earl of Howth. His mot ...
; they moved to England where he was a Captain in the
Royal Horse Guards
The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues) (RHG) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.
Raised in August 1650 at Newcastle upon Tyne and County Durham by Sir Arthur Haselrigge on the orders of Oliver Cr ...
.
His daughter
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
married
William, Lord Plunket in 1863. The present-day
Guinness Baronets
There have been two baronetcies created for members of the Guinness family, Guinness brewing family, both in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. As of 2014 both titles are extant.
The Guinness Baronetcy, of Ashford Castle, Ashford in the Co ...
descend from his second son Benjamin.
He was buried in
Mount Jerome Cemetery
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
, 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 was erected by the Cathedral Chapter in St. Patrick's churchyard, on the south side of the cathedral, in September 1875, which was restored in 2006.
References
;Attribution
*
External links
*
Benjamin Guinness in ''A Compendium of Irish Biography'' (1878)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinness, Sir Benjamin, 1st Baronet
Benjamin Lee Guinness
Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, 1st Baronet (1 November 1798 – 19 May 1868) was an Irish 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 ...
Irish brewers
Philanthropists from Dublin (city)
Irish Anglicans
Businesspeople from Dublin (city)
People from Raheny
Lord Mayors of Dublin
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Dublin constituencies (1801–1922)
UK MPs 1865–1868
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Irish knights
1798 births
1868 deaths
Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium
19th-century Irish businesspeople