United Grand Lodge
of Antient, Free and Accepted Masons
of England


 
Province of
South Wales Eastern Division

Feature

A worthy Mason of yesteryear  Sir Josiah John Guest, Bart., M.P.  Provincial Grand Master of South Wales (1836-48) by Peter Davies, Glamorgan Lodge, No. 36 First published in the Spring & Summer 2004 editions of the Province's magazine "Guildford Gazette" Sir Josiah John Guest was born at Dowlais on 2nd February 1785, the son of Thomas Guest (Died 28th Feb. 1807 and buried at St. Tydfil's Church Merthyr.) and Jemima, daughter of T. Phillips of Shifnal, Shropshire. He was educated at Bridgenorth and Monmouth Grammar Schools. His grandfather, John Guest (Died 25th Nov. 1787) had come to Dowlais from Broseley in Shropshire, where he had been a brewer, farmer and coal dealer. He had been appointed the manager of the furnace on 30th April 1767, when he was 45 years of age. In 1786 John Guest was succeeded in the management of the business by his son, Thomas Guest, and his son-in-law William Taitt, who had married his daughter Sarah. [Taitt was the first Treasurer of Glamorgan Lodge at Cardiff in 1808 and resided at 19, St. Mary St.] By 1801 there were only three partners in the Dowlais Ironworks - William Taitt (eight shares), Thomas Guest (2 shares) and William Lewis (six shares). The directing and commanding personality was William Taitt, who was in charge of selling all iron made at Dowlais, and directing policy at Dowlais. He was, apparently, a very rude and dictatorial figure. In 1807 Thomas Guest died, and the management of the works became the responsibility of his son, Josiah John Guest, together with Alexander Kirkwood, a nephew of William Taitt. Kirkwood died in 1814 leaving Josiah John Guest in sole charge. In 1815 Williarn Taitt died, leaving his share of the business to his nephew Josiah John Guest. In 1843, Dowlais received its first order from Russia for 30,000 tons of rails, followed by a further order for 12,000 tons and then in 1844 a colossal order for 50,000 tons of rails - the largest order of that type ever placed! At the close of 1844, with seventeen furnaces averaging 90 - 96 tons each week of the year, the ironworks was almost at its peak. The Dowlais Works in 1845 employed 7,300 men, women and children and covered an area of forty acres, ten acres of which were occupied by different buildings. In July 1851 Sir John realised his lifelong amibition by becoming the sole proprietor of the Dowlais Iron Company. Josiah John Guest first married on 11th March 1817 an Irish Lady, Miss Maria Elizabeth Ranken 3rd daughter of William Ranken, but she and her baby died in childbirth the following January and was buried at Llandaff. It was during the period of this marriage that he built Dowlais House - a large Georgian Mansion with a fine stone portico. In 1823 Josiah John Guest opened a bank in Cardiff, with a branch in Merthyr, and issued promissory notes to the value of £1.00. The bank thrived until 1825 when in an era of commercial disasters it was closed. J. J. Guest was a fairly religious man of Wesleyan persuasion by birth, but Anglican because of business. In 1827, he built St. John's Church, Dowlais at a cost of £3,000, a grand and imposing building which still remains standing. He also gave generously to many local chapels. In 1829 he created a Mechanics' Institute in Dowlais, for the benefit of his men, where weekly lectures were delivered. While the lectures covered philosophical and general subjects, they were in the main concerned with mineralogy and metallurgy. In 1833 he married for the second time Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Bertie, the only daughter of Albemarle Bertie, ninth Earl of Lindsey, and she bore him ten children. When in 1839 a second Ironworks was built, it was named the "Ifor Works", after their eldest son Ifor Bertie. In 1846 Sir John purchased, Lord De Manley's house at Canford, near Wimborne, Dorset, for £335,000, and commissioned Sir Charles Barry (Architect of the Houses of Parliament) to remodel it for him and Lady Charlotte as a home for their retirement. The House is now the site of the independent co-educational school - 'Canford School'- founded in 1923. On 21st June 1836, an Act of Parliament was passed for the building of the Taff Railway from Merthyr to Cardiff. The original capital was £300,000 in £100 shares. Two main shareholders were Josiah John Guest and his brother Thomas Revel Guest. The engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Engineer of the Great Western Railway). The railway was opened to Abercynon (Navigation House) in October 1840 and to Merthyr in 1841 and Sir J. J. Guest was the first chairman of the Company. Sir John during his lifetime held many social, business and academic titles among which were:  1818 - Appointed High Sheriff of Glamorgan and elected Fellow of the Geological Society;  1830 - elected Fellow of the Roval Societv:  1834 - Vice-President of the Cambrian Society and made an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers. At the coronation of Queen Victoria in July 1838 - made a baronet in the Coronation Honours List. His involvement in politics began in 1826 when, on 26th June, he was elected the Member of Parliament for Honiton, Devon, a seat that he held until 23rd April 1831. On 1st March 1831, Lord John Russell moved the firs reading of the Reform Bill and in his several attempts to get the Bill through Parliament he received great support from Josiah John Guest. Following several defeats, the Bill was eventually passed on 4th June 1831. The first Parliament under the Reform Bill assembled on January 29th 1833 and J. J. Guest went then as the first member for the newly created Borough of Merthyr, Aberdare and Vaynor - a seat he held up to the time of his death. Josiah John Guest first became involved in Freemasonry on 1st March 1810, when he was proposed as a candidate for initiation in Glamorgan Lodge. He was duly initiated on 5th April of that year, but not passed until 7t April 1821; and a further 15 years was to pass until he was raised! The Glamorgan Lodge Minutes for 20th October 1836 read as follows:  "A Letter having been received from Brother J. J. Guest wishing to be raised to the sublime Degree of a Master Mason he having been duly initiated in the 2 first Degrees in this Lodge - Brother Guest was afterwards raised to the Degree of Master Mason -" The Provincial Grand Master, Sir Christopher Cole, had died, while still in office, on 26th August 1836 and it would appear, from Guest's request to the Glamorgan Lodge to be raised, that he was already lined up to succeed Cole as P.G.M. This was of course was unknown to the Brethren of the Indefatigable Lodge, Swansea, who were intent on getting their candidate, Henry, Duke of Beaufort, appointed as P.G.M. In the Minutes of the Indefatigable Lodge we have: "At a Lodge of Emergency on 20th September 1836, the Duke was balloted for as a candidate for Freemasonry. He was unanimously approved and duly initiated, passed and raised by Brother Bird. At the same meeting the Duke acceded to the brethren's wishes that he should allow himself to be nominated P.G.M. for South Wales." In the event their address was unsuccessful for on the 10th November 1836, the Grand Secretaries wrote to the Masters of the South Wales Lodges as follows: "We have to acquaint you that the most Worshipful Grand Master has been pleased to appoint Josiah John Guest, Esq., M.P. of Dowlais House, Merthyr Tydfil, Provincial Grand Master for South Wales, to whom, therefore, you will in future address all your communications relating to the Craft, excepting the returns of your Lodge. Applications for Certificates and other matters specially directed by the Book of Constitutions, and which are to be forwarded to us jointly as Grand Secretaries. With fraternal regards, we remain your obedient Servants and Brethren William H White, Edward Hughes, G.Secs." Sir J. J. Guest did in fact accept the appointment of P.G.M. of South Wales in a letter, dated 23rd October 1836 to W. H. White Grand Secretary. In the letter, he emphasises that his names were 'Josiah John Guest - not Joshua'. In 1836 he inaugurated a movement by the Lodges and Brethren of England to present HRH the Duke of Sussex with a suitable token, in appreciation of his services on the completion of 25 years as head of the English Craft. One of Guest's earliest duties as P.G.M. was to write to the Lodges in his Province for a subscription towards this 'token,' and in the Minutes of the Glamorgan Lodge, dated 8th January 1838 we have: "A Letter having been received from J. J. Guest P.G.M. at the instance of Lord Joln Churchill W. Dep. G.M. requesting a return of the subscriptions from this Lodge in aid of the proposed Masonic Offering to the M W Grand M - and requesting to be furnished with a List of Officers and Members of this Lodge. Proposed by Brother Wm. Bird and Seconded by Brother Mark Marks, it was resolved unanimously that the Sum of Three Guineas be subscribed for the above laudable purpose." The presentation took the form of a service of plate, weighing over 1800 oz. and was presented to HRH on January 24th 1838. The Plate was afterwards presented, in 1845, to the United Grand Lodge by the Duchess of Inverness. While J. J. Guest had been appointed P.G.M. in 1836, he was not installed as such until 18th August 1840. On the 28th January 1840 W. Bro. Matthew Moggridge, W.M. of the Indefatigable Lodge adopted the following course: "Moved by Bro Gutch, Seconded by Bro Harris, that the Secretary be requested to address a Letter to Sir J. J. Guest, and respectfully solicit him to name a day when it would be convenient for him to be installed W.P.G.M." This letter had the desired effect, for in the Indefatigable Lodge Minutes we have: "Moved by Bro Bird, Seconded by Bro T. Morgan, that the thanks of this Lodge be given to the W.M. for the zeal he has evinced in successfully calling the attention of the P.G.M. to the state of the Craft in the principality, and in prevailing on the Distinguished Brother to exercise the duties of his high and important office." On 3rd August 1840, the Provincial Grand Master wrote to the Worshipful Masters of the Province as follows: Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, August 3rd 1840 W. Master,  You are hereby summoned with your officers to attend the Provincial Grand Master at Swansea on Tuesday, the 18th inst., at 10 o'clock a.m., either in person or by deputy, in order to furthering his Installation and to bring with you your Warrant, Books, Papers and Accounts, and also a list of all members who may be in arrears of payment, that the same may be inspected in order to ascertain the progress of the Craft and to enable the Provincial Grand Master to report to Grand Lodge accordingly. Be so good as to inform me as early as possible the number that is likely to attend from your Lodge, to enable the Grand Officers to make out the regular form of procession. I am, W. Master,  Yours fraternally,  J. John Guest, P.G.M. of S. Wales The Installation took place at Swansea on Tuesday, 18th August 1840. It was held at the Cameron Arms, which had recently become the meeting place of the Indefatigable Lodge. The occasion was reported in the 'Cambrian' on Saturday 22nd August; a part of which is given below: "On Tuesday last, a large and highly-respectable assemblage of Masonic Brethren from various Lodges in the Principality, met at the Lodge-house, the Cameron Arms, in this town, in compliance with the summons of the Provincial Grand Master for South Wales, Sir J. J. Guest, Bart., M.P., who was then and there to be installed; which imposing and interesting ceremony took place about eleven o'clock, a,m. The Provincial Grand Master then nominated his Provincial Officers, and having addressed them on various Masonic subjects, the Brethren, about 150 in number, were formed into Procession, in the order following, and walked to St. Mary's Church, preceded, flanked, and followed by the detachment of the 45th Regiment, now stationed at Swansea. We should here observe that the streets through which the procession had to pass, were literally crammed with spectators, and every window from which a glance could be caught of the Brethren, were filled with ladies and well-dressed and respectable individuals; and the procession evidently afforded all much gratification and delight. .................. The morning service at St. Mary's Church was performed by the Provincial Grand Chaplain, the Rev. Wm. Hewson, D.D., Vicar, who afterwards delivered one of the most beautiful and effective discourses we have ever heard in the course of our experience, from the 17th verse of the 2nd chapter of the 1st Epistle General of St. Peter - "Love the Brotherhood, fear God, and honour the King."  ............... The procession then returned from church in the same order to the Lodge-room, where, after the closing the Lodge, they separated until the hour of the festival, six o'clock; when they sat down, about 100 in number, in full Masonic costume, to an excellent dinner, which did much credit to the taste and management of the hostess, the Provincial Grand Master presiding, and the Depu Provincial as Vice. The cloth being removed, "Non nobis domini" was sung ....... Amongst the various toasts given, the following were most prominent, and drunk with much acclamation, attended by the usual Masonic honours:- "The Queen - the daughter of a Mason,  and the Patroness of our Order." "His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex,  Grand Master of England" "The Provincial Grand Master,"  with reiterated applause, etc.  "The memory of the late Provincial Grand Master,  Sir. C. Cole," on referring to whose amiable virtues  in public and private life, the Provincial Grand  Chaplain spoke most feelingly and eloquently. "Lady Charlotte Guest," with the most enthusiastic applause" Five days earlier, on 13th August 1840, Sir Josiah John Guest had been installed as Worshipful Master of the Loyal Cambrian Lodge at Merthyr Tydfil, and his name is displayed on the Board of Past Masters at the Masonic Hall in Merthyr. He had only joined the Merthyr Lodge in the July of 1840! An account of his installation, given in 'The Illustrated History of the Loyal Cambrian Lodge', by James Fraser makes interesting reading: "A Lodge of Emergency was again held on August 13th, when on the proposition of Bro. Rhys Davies, Mr. Thomas Shepherd was initiated in the First Degree. The Secretary, Bro. White, afterwards read a communication from the Most Worshipful Grand Master, H.R.H., the Duke of Sussex, requesting mourning to be worn by the Craft on the decease of the lamented Pro Grand Master, the Earl of Durham. On this occasion Bro. Sir Josiah John Guest was present, and towards the close of the meeting "the Secretary read the charges on command of P.M. Bro. Hopkins, Worshipful Master pro tem, to the Right Wor. Prov. Grand Master, Sir Josiah John Guest, Bart., M.P., who was afterwards duly installed into the Chair as Worshipful Master, and regularly saluted as such by the whole of the Brethren, with Masonic Honours by Bro. Hopkins ......" James Fraser then writes - "No information is given in the minutes as to the object of installing the Prov. Grand Master as Worshipful Master of the Lodge. The emergency meeting appears to have been called to initiate Bro. Shepherd, and the only inference that can be drawn from the account of the proceedings is that the Brethren desired to honour the Provincial Grand Master by installing him as Worshipful Master." The following year, the next Provincial Grand Lodge was held at Carmarthen in order to constitute the new St. Peter's Lodge No. 699 [now No. 476]. An announcement was placed in the Cambrian on Saturday 11th September 1841: "The Worshipful Master Elect and Brethren of St. Peter's Lodge at Carmarthen beg to announce to the various Lodges throughout the Principality, and to their MASONIC BRETHREN generally, that the PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER, Sir J. J. GUEST, Bart., M.P., had kindly signified his intention of honouring them with his presence at the OPENING of the NEW LODGE at the IVY BUSH HOTEL, which is fixed for TUESDAY the 14th of SEPTEMBER inst., on which occasion the company and assistance of those Brethren who can conveniently attend will be most highly esteemed." However, from the report in the Cambrian on Saturday, 18th September we have, "The installation of the Worshipful Master and Officers of St. David's Lodge of Freemasons at Carmarthen, took place on Tuesday last, at the Lodge-room, Ivy Bush Hotel, by Brother Hutchins, Deputy Pro Grand Master for South Wales, assisted by Officers of the Provincial Grand Lodge and a numerous body of visiting brethren." The report mistakenly referred to St. David's Lodge instead of St. Peter's; but what is important however, is the fact that Sir Josiah John Guest did not attend. He did attend the Provincial Grand Lodge the following year, which was held on Wednesday 23rd February in Cardiff under the banner of Glamorgan Lodge. The meeting was reported in the Cambrian on Saturday, 5th March 1842: PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF FREEMASONS FOR SOUTH WALES. The Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master (Sir John Guest, Bart., M.P.) having summoned his Provincial Grand Officers and the Worshipful Masters and Officers of the various Lodges in the Province of South Wales, to hold a Provincial Grand Lodge at Cardiff, on Wednesday, the 23rd. ult., the same was attended by the following Provincial Grand Officers, Worshipful Masters, and officers of Lodges: - Brothers Sir John Guest, Bart., M.P., R.W.P.G.M.; E.J. Hutchins, D.P.G.M.; Capt. Thos. Morgan, RN, S.W.; C.B. Mansfield, J.W.; C.H. Smith, S.D.; F.D. Michael, P.G.M. of C.; R. Walker, P. G. Sec.; R. Tredwen, P.G.J.G.; Joshua Jones, P.G.T.; W.M. and Officers of Cardiff Lodge; W.M. and Officers of Swansea Lodge, No. 288; W.M. and Officers of Carmarthen Lodge, No. 699. The Provincial Grand Lodge having been opened in due form, and other Masonic business having been disposed of, the D.P.G.M. proposed, after an eloquent speech, which Brother C.H. Smith, Esq., seconded, that the following dutiful Loyal Address be adopted, and be presented to Her Majesty, upon the joyous occasion of the Birth of the Prince of Wales. "We the Right Worshipful Master and Brothers of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of South Wales, beg to approach your Majesty, and to offer our dutiful and heartfelt congratulations on the auspicious Birth of a Prince and Heir to your dominions. We earnestly pray, that the Great Architect of the Universe may prolong your Majesty's life, to be a blessing to your Majesty's devoted and loyal people, and to dispose the heart of the young Prince, that as he grows in years, he may imitate wisdom and virtue, and emulate the bright example set before him by his Royal Mother."  Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Victoria, was born on 9th November 1841. He was initiated in St. John's Lodge, Stockholm, by the King of Sweden on 21st December 1868. He became, Grand Master in 1874. On his accession to the Throne as King Edward VII in 1901, he assumed the title 'Protector of the Craft', and was succeeded as Grand Master by H.R.H., Arthur Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. (Grand Master 1901 - 39). During the 1840's, Sir Josiah John Guest's health was gradually declining and Lady Guest was informed that he was suffering from an incurable disease. He resigned as P.G.M. on 3rd August 1848 and his successor as P.G.M. was Edward John Hutchins P.M. of the Merthyr Lodge. On the 26th November 1852, after an illness, which had grown progressively worse over the years, Sir John Guest died aged 67 years. He left immense wealth to his widow and family, not only the Dowlais Iron Company, but also large estates at Canford Manor, Wimborne, Dorset, and Sully, Glamorgan, together with mines in the Forest of Dean. On his death, Lady Guest said, "He was born in Dowlais, he lived in Dowlais and he shall be buried in Dowlais". On Saturday 14th December when he was buried, not a place of business was open, even the market stayed closed until the evening he was laid to rest at the Dowlais Parish Church, mourned by one and all of Dowlais. An account of his funeral was reported in the 'Cardiff & Merthyr Guardian' of Saturday, 11th December 1852: Early on Saturday morning, the body was deposited in the receptacle prepared for it, the innermost coffin - mahogany - having been made in the Dowlais Works. The next was of lead, the production of Mr. Robert Sims, Ironmonger, of Merthyr; while the third and outside one was formed of oak, and was, similarly to the first coffin, the production of the carpenters in the late Sir John' Guest's employ. This was covered with rich black cloth, studded with the same sombre coloured nails; the handles and furniture being massive and beautifully gilt. On the lid was a pure silver plate, upon which the armorial bearings of the deceased baronet, together with the motto "Ferro non Gladio," -as likewise the following inscription, were exquisitely engraven: Sir JOSIAH JOHN GUEST,  Twenty Years M. P., for the Borough of Merthyr Tydfil:  Born at Dowlais, 2nd February, 1785  Died at Dowlais, 26th, November, 1852. The corpse having been placed in the coffin, it was conveyed from upstairs into a large room on the ground floor of Dowlais House. The hatchment was then placed at the head, and the coffin covered with a black pall, fringed with white silk, having the escutcheons of the late Sir John Guest worked in gold on white satin affixed, three on each side. The public were then admitted into this room, and during the two hours it remained open, members of the most respectable inhabitants availed themselves of the considerate kindness of Lady Charlotte. At about half-past twelve o'clock the mournful cortege left Dowlais house, proceeding little distance down High-street, then turning into Market-street, through Union-street, to the Church. Part of his Obituary in the 'Cardiff & Merthyr Guardian' of Saturday, 4th December 1852 is as follows: "He was a man of great mental capacities - a good mathematician, and a thorough man of business - not without taste for the refinement of literature. He was a man of generous impulses; but performance did not always wait on promise. As a politician he was not consistent: he began his career as an ultra-liberal; and we well recollect seeing 'VOTE BY BALLOT' floating in the breeze, at the last contested election, upon the Dowlais flags; but he concluded his career as a Whig and a general supporter of Lord JOHN RUSSELL. As a Member of Parliament, Sir JOHN GUEST, while health permitted, was not inattentive to his political duties. He was not given much to oratory, and seldom spoke in the House; but he was something better than a fluent speaker - he was a clear-headed man. He served frequently upon important committees, generally voted upon the great questions of the day, and, upon the whole, did his work fairly." In 1855 Lady Charlotte Guest married Charles Schreiber, M.P., at one time tutor to her eldest son Ifor Bertie Guest. With her marriage, Lady Charlotte retired from business and an active part of Dowlais life. Ifor Bertie was created Lord Wimbome in 1880. In 1897, Sir Josiah John Guest's Provincial Chain of Office and Regalia were presented to the Province by his son, the Hon. Montague Guest, Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of Dorset to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign. On the occasion of the Provincial Grand Lodge at Merthyr on 28th September 1899, the Right Worshipful Grand Master, Lord Llangattock, presented to the Loyal Cambrian Lodge the Regalia and Chain, handsomely mounted in a walnut case. © 2004 - Peter M Davies, Glamorgan Lodge No. 36   References : 'The Dictionary of Welsh Biography down to 1940', Published under the Auspices of the Honourable Society of Cynanrodorion, London 1959. 'Notable Welshmen' by the Rev. T Mardy Rees, London 1908  The History of the Dowlais Iron Works 1759 -1970, John A. Owen, The Starling Press, 1977 'The Illustrated History of the Loyal Cambrian Lodge', Fraser James, Published Merthyr 1914. 'History of the Indefatigable Lodge', William Henry Jones, Spurrell, Carmarthen 1923; 'Grand Lodge 1717 - 1967, University of Oxford Press, 1967