was b. at
Dowlais
, nine months before the death of his grandfather, the pioneer, namely
2 Feb. 1785
. He was educated at
Bridgnorth
and
Monmouth grammar schools
. He became thoroughly conversant with the details of the
manufacture of iron
, and alive to the improvement to be introduced by a proper application of chemical and engineering knowledge. Armed with this thorough knowledge of the work, enterprise, creative genius, and by continually adding new furnaces, forges, and mills, he raised
Dowlais works
from the third place at
Merthyr
to the first, surpassing all the others, even ousting
Cyfarthfa
from the position of being the largest and most productive ironworks in the world. By
1840
,
Dowlais
had eighteen furnaces, against twelve at
Cyfarthfa
, eight at
Plymouth
(
Hill
's), while
Pen-y-darren
had dropped to the fourth place with six furnaces. At this time the
Dowlais
concern employed 1,000
colliers
, 1,000 men in the iron mines, 2,500 in the works, and raised 1,400 tons of coal daily for its own furnaces, etc. The proprietors became wealthy and influential, while
J. J.
Guest
, in addition to being the
manager
of this huge concern, also improved his position as a partner in the company — holding one-sixteenth at his father's death, he obtained eight-sixteenths more on the death of his uncle
William
Taitt
in
1815
. By
1849
he had become sole proprietor, and the welfare of the
large population of over 12,000 people depended entirely upon the use he made of the power thus entrusted to him; in this he was ably assisted by his wife,
lady
Charlotte Elizabeth
Guest
(q.v.)
. He earned a good name by his establishment of the excellent
Dowlais central schools
which were then considered the best in the whole country; it was at
Dowlais
that the plan of ‘adult schools’ was first tried in
South Wales
. He presided over a meeting at
Merthyr
, convened to
establish a literary and scientific institution
. Later, he founded a
Dowlais workmen's library
, and gave 180 volumes in
Welsh
and
English
to the
Merthyr library
of which
Thomas
Stephens
(q.v.)
was the
honorary secretary
. He contributed to the
support of the national schools
at
Merthyr
and
Aberdare
, and of the
Park school
(‘
Ysgol y Comin
,’ a
British school
) at
Aberdare
. He and his wife were
patrons
of ‘
Cymreigyddion y Fenni
’ in
1834
, and he presided over the second anniversary meeting at
Abergavenny
in
1835
. At the
1848
eisteddfod
Thomas
Stephens
won the prize for his
Literature of the Kymry
, a valuable work, of which
Guest
bore the cost of publication (
1849
).
Guest
sat as a
member of Parliament
for
Honiton
from
1825 until 1831
. It was largely through his influence that the new parliamentary constituency of the
Merthyr borough
including
Aberdare
and
Vaynor
) was created. He was returned unopposed in
1832
(as a
Liberal and Free Trader
) as the first
M.P.
for the
Merthyr borough
, and kept his seat until his death in
1852
. In
1838
he was created a
baronet
.
Though brought up as a
Wesleyan Methodist
,
Guest
erected
Dowlais church
in
1827
and contributed £3,000 towards the expense, and gave £250 towards the new church of
S. Davids
at
Merthyr
. He was the
chief promoter
of the
Taff Vale railway
and became its first
chairman
. He and
Crawshay
Bailey
(q.v.)
were the
chief promoters
of the
Aberdare valley railway
which was taken over later by the
Taff Vale Railway Company
. He
opened a bank
at
Cardiff
with a branch at
Merthyr
in
1823
, but these were closed in
1825
because of
Government
opposition. At
Dowlais
he
established and continued a warm supporter of a savings bank
. In
1830
he was elected
F.R.S.
; in
1834
he became an
Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers
.
In
1837
Guest
presided at a meeting of the inhabitants of
Merthyr
called to consider the propriety of obtaining an act of
Parliament
for the incorporation of
Merthyr
. The town had, however, to wait nearly seventy years to see this ambition realized, its first
mayor
being elected in
1906
.
Guest
was elected,
1 April 1837
, as the first
chairman
of the
Merthyr board of guardians
. After an inquiry at
Merthyr
, conducted by an
inspector of the board of health
into an application by
Merthyr
to be allowed to adopt the
Public Health Act
of
1848
, and after seeing the disastrous consequences of the second visitation of the
cholera epidemic
in
1849
, the
Merthyr board of health
(the precursor of the
Merthyr Urban District Council
, and, later, the
Merthyr Corporation
), was formed in
1850
, when
Guest
was elected as the first
chairman
.
Merthyr
citizens held meetings to take steps to erect a town hall worthy of such an important centre of population during
May 1850
, canvassed the district for donations, and
Sir
John
Guest
promised £1,000 towards the funds.
During the later years of his life he removed to
Canford Manor
,
Dorset
, where his descendants have since lived, but as death approached he returned to
Dowlais
, the home of his birth, youth, and activities, and there he d.
26 Nov. 1852
and was buried.
