John Josiah Guest

Sir Josiah John Guest, 1st Baronet.

Sir Josiah John Guest, 1st Baronet, known as John Josiah Guest, (2 February 1785 – 26 November 1852) was a Welsh engineer and entrepreneur.

Life

Born in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, as the son of Thomas Guest, a partner in the Dowlais Iron Company. Guest was educated at Bridgnorth Grammar School and Monmouth School before learning the trade of ironmaking in his father's foundry at the hands of works manager John Evans. He was renowned for his ability to roll a bar of steel or cut a tram of coal as well as any of his father's workmen.

Guest family tree

On his father's death in 1807, John inherited his share of the company and developed the business, becoming sole owner of the works in 1815. In 1817 he married Maria Rankin but their marriage was short lived, Maria dying just nine months later. He subsequently married Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Bertie, daughter of Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey. Guest was elected Member of Parliament for Honiton, Devon in 1825, holding the seat until defeated by Sir George Warrender in 1831. In 1832 he became the first MP for Merthyr Tydfil.

His public works included a school at Dowlais, designed by Sir Charles Barry. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was the first chairman of the Taff Vale Railway, and was created a baronet, of Dowlais in the County of Glamorgan, in 1838.

On his death, the Dowlais Iron Company having become the largest producer of iron in the world: He died in 1852, leaving five sons and five daughters, including:

• Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne (1835-1914).
• Montague Guest (1839-1909) was a Liberal politician.
• Arthur Edward Guest (1841-1898) was a Conservative politician.
• Charlotte Maria Guest (d. 1902), who married Richard Du Cane.
• Mary Enid Evelyn Guest, who married Austen Henry Layard.
• Blanche Guest, who married Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough.

Guest was buried in an iron coffin under a red granite slab in the local St John's Church, which had been built for him in 1827.

Bibliography

• Obituaries:
  • Gentleman's Magazine, 2nd ser., 39 (1853), 91–2
  • The Times, 9 December 1852
• Gillham, C. L. (1972) "The politics of Sir John Guest, 1825–1852", MA dissertation, University of Wales
• 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).

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Josiah Guest

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Peregrine Francis Cust Samuel Crawley	Member of Parliament for Honiton 1826–1831 With: Henry Baines Lott 1826–1830 Sir George Warrender, Bt 1830–1831	Succeeded by Henry Baines Lott Sir George Warrender, Bt
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil 1832–1852	Succeeded by Henry Austin Bruce
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Dowlais)  1838–1852	Succeeded by Ivor Bertie Guest