Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, 1st Baronet (November 1, 1798) - (May 19, Irish brewer and philanthropist. Born in Dublin, he was the son of Arthur Guinness, and grandson of the latter's namesake who founded the Guinness brewery. He joined his father in the business at an early age, and in around 1825 took sole control. By 1855, when his father died, Guinness had become the richest man in Ireland, having built up a huge export trade and continually enlarged the brewery.
GUINNESS (1798-1868), may be regarded as the real maker of the firm, into which he was taken at an early age, and of which about 1825 he was given sole control.
Benjamin Lee Guinness represented the city of Dublin in parliament as a Conservative from 1865 till his death, and in 1867 was created a baronet.
Sir Arthur Edward Guinness, who for some time represented Dublin in parliament, was in 1880 raised to the peerage as Baron Ardilaun, and about the same time disposed of his share in the brewery to his brother Edward Cecil Guinness.