Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh
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Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, KP, GCVO, FRS (November 10, 1847 - October 7, 1927) was an Irish philanthropist and businessman. He was born in Clontarf, Dublin.
Guinness served as the nineteenth Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin between 1908 and 1927.
He was the third son of Sir Benjamin Guinness, 1st Baronet, and younger brother of Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun. Educated at Trinity College Dublin, graduating with BA in 1870, he served as Sheriff of Dublin in 1876, and nine years later became the city's High Sheriff. That same year, he was created a baronet on the occasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales to Ireland.
In 1891 Guinness was created Baron Iveagh, of Iveagh in the County of Down. He was appointed a Knight of St Patrick in 1895, and ten years later was advanced in the Peerage of the United Kingdom to Viscount Iveagh. Elected to the Royal Society in 1906, he was two years later elected Chancellor of Dublin University, and in 1910 was appointed GCVO. He was finally in 1919 created Earl of Iveagh and Viscount Elveden, of Elveden in the County of Suffolk.
Lord Iveagh was chief executive of the Guinness company until 1889, subsequently becoming the chairman of the board. By the age of 29 he had taken over the family brewery after buying out the interests of his older brothers, Lord Ardilaun and Benjamin Lee Guinness. Over 10 years, Edward Cecil brought unprecedented success to St James's Gate, multiplying the value of the brewery enormously. By 1896 he had become the richest man in Ireland after floating the company on the stock market before retiring a multi-millionaire at the age of 40. He remained chairman of the public company and chief shareholder.
Like his father and brother he was a generous philanthropist and contributed almost £1 million to slum clearance and housing projects, among other causes. After his death in 1927 at Grosvenor Place, London, he was buried at Elveden, Suffolk, leaving his house and estate of Kenwood, Hampstead, to the nation, along with its large collection of works of art. His estate was assessed for probate at £13.5 million, which remained a British record until the death of Sir John Ellerman in 1933.
Interested in fine art all his life, Edward Cecil amassed a distinguished collection of Old Master paintings, antique furniture and historic textiles. While he was furnishing his London home at Hyde Park Corner, after he had retired, he began building his art collection in earnest. As a result, much of his collection of paintings was donated to the British state after his death in 1927 and is housed at the Iveagh Bequest at Hampstead, north London. While this lays claim to much of his collection of paintings, it is Farmleigh that best displays his taste in architecture as well as his tastes in antique furniture and textiles.
Most of Edward Cecil Guinness's aesthetic and philanthropic legacy to Dublin is still intact. He founded the Iveagh Trust which funded the largest piece of urban renewal in Edwardian Dublin, providing houses and amenities for poor people of the city.
He had three children: Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness, who succeeded him as Earl; Arthur Ernest Guinness; and Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- G. Martelli, Man of his time (London 1957).
- D. Wilson, Dark and Light (Weidenfeld, London 1998).
- J. Guinness, Requiem for a family business (Macmillan, London 1997).
- S. Dennison and O.MacDonagh, Guinness 1886-1939 From incorporation to the Second World War (Cork University Press 1998).
- F. Aalen, The Iveagh Trust The first hundred years 1890-1990 (Dublin 1990).
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: New Creation |
Earl of Iveagh 1919–1927 |
Succeeded by: Rupert Guinness |
Categories: Irish Anglicans | Guinness family | Philanthropists | Art collectors | Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom | Knights of St Patrick | Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order | People associated with Trinity College, Dublin | Natives of County Dublin | Chancellors of the University of Dublin | 1847 births | 1927 deaths
