Richard Samuel Guinness (7 June 1797 – 27 August 1857) was an Irish lawyer and a Member of Parliament.

Parents

Guinness was one of the sons of Richard Guinness (1755-1829), a Dublin barrister and judge, and his wife Mary Darley, descended from a well-known Dublin house-building family. He was a great-nephew of the brewer

Arthur Guinness Arthur Guinness ( 172523 January 1803) was an Irish brewer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The inventor of Guinness beer, he founded the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate in 1759. Guinness was born in Ardclogh, near Celbridge, County Ki ...

. His elder brother Robert Rundell Guinness (1789-1857) founded the Guinness Mahon merchant bank in 1836.

Career

Guinness was called to the bar at the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and practised as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. He was also a banker in partnership with his elder brother Robert, but this was dissolved in the 1830s. He then worked as a land agent, trading as "R. Guinness & Co.", but found it difficult in the aftermath of the

Irish famine The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger ( ), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a historical social crisis and had a major impact ...

of the 1840s. At the general election of August 1847, standing as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, Guinness was elected as a member of the Parliament of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

for the Kinsale division, and took his seat at Westminster. However, an

election petition An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

was filed by the losing Whig candidate, W. H. Watson, and early in 1848 a select committee found that Guinness's agents' generous hospitality in providing free drinks for the electorate of Kinsale in Kiley's public house had amounted to bribery. The committee comprised three Whigs and two fellow Conservatives. While Guinness was personally exonerated, his election was declared void. He did not stand at the resulting by-election, and the Whig

Benjamin Hawes Sir Benjamin Hawes (1797 – 15 May 1862) was a British Whig politician. Early life Hawes was a grandson of William Hawes, founder of the Royal Humane Society, and son of Benjamin Hawes of New Barge House, Lambeth, who was a businessman and F ...

took the seat by just three votes. At a double by-election on 25 August 1854, Guinness was again elected to parliament as a Conservative, this time for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, and held the seat for three years, but did not stand for re-election at the general election of 1857.

Personal life

On 25 November 1833, at the residence of the British ambassador to France, in

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

, Guinness married Katherine Frances Jenkinson, a daughter of

Sir Charles Jenkinson, 10th Baronet Sir Charles Jenkinson, 10th Baronet (23 February 1779 – 6 March 1855), known as Charles Jenkinson until 1851, was a British politician. Background Jenkinson was the son of Colonel John Jenkinson, Joint Secretary for Ireland, and great-gra ...

and his wife Katherine Campbell, a daughter of Walter Campbell of Shawfield. Sir Charles was a cousin of

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...

, the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in 1812–27. They rebuilt and lived at Deepwell House,

Blackrock, Dublin Blackrock () is an affluent suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire. It is named after the local geological rock formation to be found in the area of Blackrock Park. In the late 18th century, the Blackrock Ro ...

, and also had other houses at 17 Sillwood Place,

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, and 4 Park Place,

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

, Westminster. They couple had eight children, including: * Col. Charles W. N. Guinness CB (1839–1894) * Arthur C. C. J. Guinness (1841–1897), who emigrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

* Sir Reginald R. B. Guinness (1842-1909) JP, DL for

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

* Adelaide (1844-1916), known as “Dodo”, who married her third cousin

Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, (10 November 1847 – 7 October 1927) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish businessman and philanthropist. A member of the prominent Guinness family, he was the head of the family's eponymous Guinnes ...

* Claude H. C. Guinness (1852–1895), the managing director of

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

1886-95 Guinness became known within his family as Old Pelican or Old Pel.Bill Yenne. ''Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint'' (2009)
p. 54
“Known inside the family as “old Pelican” or “Old Pel”, Richard was the son of the first Arthur Guinness's goldsmith brother Samuel.” Guinness died in Dublin in 1857, aged 60. His executors were Samuel Nalty and Anna Maria Yelverton. His net estate at death was just £100.Richard Samuel Guinness (1797–1857): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55817

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinness, Richard Samuel Irish barristers 19th-century Irish lawyers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Cork constituencies (1801–1922) Irish Conservative Party MPs 1797 births 1857 deaths Richard Samuel Alumni of King's Inns Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Barnstaple UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 19th-century Irish businesspeople