Guest family

The Guest family are a British family of the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries who, among other things built a huge industrial business in the Dowlais Iron Company and later in Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds.

John Guest

John Guest (1722-1785/25 November 1787) was a brewer, farmer and coal merchant in Broseley, Shropshire. He collaborated with Isaac Wilkinson in starting the Plymouth Ironworks in 1763 and there came to the attention of Thomas Lewis and the other Dowlais partners. He moved to Dowlais and was appointed manager of the works on 30 April 1767. He built his first house at Morlais Brook, Gellifaelog but, isolated from his family, became a "lonely and melancholy man". By 1767, Guest had moved most of his family to Dowlais. His children were:

• Thomas Guest (infra); and
• Sarah Guest who married William Taitt, (died 1815) another of the Dowlais partners.

Thomas Guest

Thomas Guest (died 1807) continued his father's work at Dowlais. He married Jemima Revel Phillips of Shifnal, Shropshire. They had three daughters and two sons:

• John Josiah Guest (infra); and
• Thomas Revel Guest (1790–1837), a partner in Dowlais with two shares and the firm's agent in Ireland. Along with his brother, he was one of the promoters and original shareholders of the Taff Vale Railway. On his death he left one share to his brother and one to his nephew Edward John Hutchins.

Thomas did much to modernise production at Dowlais, employing several of his relatives, including:

• Cornelius Guest;
• Charles Guest; and
• George Guest.

Sir Josiah John Guest, 1st Baronet

Main article: John Josiah Guest

John Josiah Guest (1785–1852) married:

• 11 March 1817: Maria Elizabeth Ranken (died January 1818), the third daughter of William Ranken from Ireland.
• 29 July 1833:Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Bertie (1812–1895), eldest child of Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey. They had ten children, including:
  • Ivor Bertie Guest (infra)
  • Montague Guest.
  • Arthur Guest.

Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne

Main article: Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne

Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne (1835–1914), married Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill (1847–1927), daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, aunt of Sir Winston Churchill. They had four daughters and five sons:

• Ivor Churchill Guest (infra);
• Henry Guest (1874–1957);
• Frederick Edward Guest (infra);
• Lionel Guest (1880–1935), was a co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton Montreal. He married Flora Bigelow Dodge, daughter of John Bigelow, in 1905. Flora was the author of Laughter and Tears (1926) and the mother, by her first marriage, of John Bigelow Dodge;
• Oscar Guest (1888–1958).

Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne

Main article: Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne

Ivor Churchill married Alice Katherine Sibell Grosvenor, daughter of Robert Wellesley Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Ebury and they had two daughters and one son:

• Ivor Grosvenor Guest, 2nd Viscount Wimborne.

Frederick Edward Guest

Main article: Frederick Edward Guest

Frederick married Amy Phipps (1873–1959), daughter of American industrialist Henry Phipps. The couple had two sons and a daughter all of whom eventually emigrated to the United States.

• Raymond Richard Guest (1907–1991)
• Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, (1906–1982) a polo player who married 1) Helena Woolworth McCann (div. 1934), granddaughter of F. W. Woolworth, 2) Lucy Douglas Cochrane (C. Z. Guest).

Winston F. Guest had two sons with Helena Woolworth McCann:

1. Winston Alexander Guest Jr.
2. Frederick E. Guest II

Winston F. Guest had a son and a daughter with Lucille Douglas Cochrane:

1. Alexander Michael Douglas Dudley Guest
2. Cornelia Guest

• Diana Guest (1909–1994). Married 1) Marc Sevastopoulo, 2) Count Jean de Gaillard de la Valdène, 3) Allen Manning.

She had two children with Count Jean de la Valdène:

1. Guy Winston de Gaillard de la Valdène
2. Lorraine Aimee de Gaillard de la Valdène

Bibliography

• Boyce, G. D. (2007) "Guest, Ivor Churchill, first Viscount Wimborne (1873–1939)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, online edn, accessed 3 September 2007 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
• John, A. V. (2004) "Guest, Sir (Josiah) John, first baronet (1785–1852)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 25 August 2007 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
• Searle, G. R. (2006) "Guest, Frederick Edward (1875–1937)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, online edn, accessed 3 September 2007 (subscription or UK public library membership required)