Sir Josiah John Guest, 1st Baronet (2 February 1785 – 26 November 1852), known as John Josiah Guest, was a British engineer, entrepreneur and politician.
After attending school, he learned the trade of ironmaking in his father's foundry at the hands of the works manager, John Evans. Guest 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.[1] Upon his father's death in 1807, Guest inherited his father's share of the company and developed the business, becoming sole owner of the works in 1815. By the time of his death in 1852, the Dowlais Iron Company had become the largest producer of iron in the world.[2]
Mary Enid Evelyn Guest (1843–1912), who married Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817–1894).[9]
Constance Rhiannon Guest (1844–1916), who married Hon. Charles George Cornwallis Eliot (1839–1901), youngest son of Edward Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans[7]
Guest died in 1852 and 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.[10]
After his death, his widow married Charles Schreiber (1826–1884) in 1855.[9] Schreiber was an academic who had been Ivor's tutor in 1852. He was known for being a fine arts collector and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1865 and 1884.[11]
^"Free Masonry at Merthyr". The Merthyr Express. 1 October 1910. hdl:10107/3815845 – via Welsh Newspapers.
^ a b c d e f g h"Sir Josiah John Guest, 1st Bt". thePeerage.com. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
^Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Montague Guest
^ a b"Lady Layard's Journal: Background". Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
^Sophie Gidley (16 February 2015). "Former church for sale in Merthyr Tydfil with stunning stained glass window, a Donny Osmond link - and an auction guide price of just £50,000". Wales Online. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
^"Schreiber, Charles (SCRR843C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
Davies, P. M. (2007). "Sir Josiah John Guest, Bart., M.P. Provincial Grand Master of South Wales (1836–48)". Province of South Wales Eastern Division Feature. United Grand Lodge of Antient, Free and Accepted Masons of England. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
Evans, L. W. (1955–56). "Sir John and Lady Charlotte Guest's educational scheme at Dowlais in the mid-nineteenth century". National Library of Wales Journal. 9: 265–86.
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).
Jones, E (1987). A History of GKN Volume 1: Innovation and Enterprise 1759–1918. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-34594-0.
Owen, J. A. (1977). The History of the Dowlais Iron Works 1759–1970. Newport: Starling Press. ISBN 0-903434-27-X.