STORIES OF GUINNESS
13 JUNE, ELVEDEN HALL
History | Architecture | Art | Music
Set within the extraordinary Mughal-inspired Marble Hall of Elveden, Stories of Guinness explores the intertwined histories of empire, architecture, literature and music through the remarkable story of the Guinness family and the world they inhabited.
Between sessions, visitors will have time to picnic in the grounds, explore Elveden Hall through guided tours, and view the art exhibition installed across the Marble Hall and the Guinness Chapel.
PROGRAMME
10:30 am - Succession
Lord Iveagh (Arthur Edward Guinness)
The day begins with the extraordinary origin story of one of the world’s most recognisable consumer brands. In Guinness: A Family Succession, Arthur Edward Guinness — the 4th Earl of Iveagh — recounts the dramatic rise of his ancestors from modest beginnings in eighteenth-century Dublin to the creation of the largest brewery in the world.
Drawing on family archives and rare historical material, Lord Iveagh traces the first four generations of the dynasty against the turbulent backdrop of nineteenth-century Ireland — a time marked by famine, political upheaval and rapid social change. The story is one of ambition, innovation and family rivalry, culminating in the moment when Edward Cecil Guinness transformed the family enterprise into a global company and became Ireland’s richest man overnight.
More than a business history, the book also explores the Guinness family’s deep commitment to the social fabric of Dublin — from housing to civic philanthropy — revealing how one brewing enterprise reshaped a city and left an enduring mark on British and Irish society.
11:30 am - The Legacy of Empire
Sam Dalrymple
Few historical events reshaped the modern world more profoundly than the partition of the Indian subcontinent. During this session, historian and writer Sam Dalrymple will introduce his acclaimed new book, Shattered Lands, a vivid account of the political upheavals that followed the end of empire in South Asia.
Drawing on newly uncovered archives, personal testimonies and forgotten histories, Dalrymple examines the chain reaction of partitions that reshaped the region — dividing nations, redrawing borders and displacing millions of people. His work illuminates how the end of empire unleashed a cascade of political transformations that continue to shape global geopolitics today.
12:30 pm - The Houses of Guinness
Adrian Tinniswood
The Guinness story is written not only in brewing ledgers but also in stone, brick and landscape. In The Houses of Guinness, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood explores the remarkable homes built, inhabited and transformed by the Guinness family over the course of two centuries.
From great Irish estates such as Farmleigh and Luggala to celebrated houses like Kenwood on Hampstead Heath, these buildings reveal the evolving ambitions of a family whose wealth and influence spread across Britain and Ireland. Through architecture and domestic life, Tinniswood reconstructs the world of a dynasty that rose from Georgian Dublin to become one of the most powerful families in the British Isles.
Blending architectural history with vivid stories of social life, philanthropy and family drama, this talk opens a window into the country-house culture that shaped elite society — and the complex legacy that accompanies such power.
1:30 pm - An Heir’s Reckoning
Catherine Bailey & Anna Hope in conversation with Eleanor Doughty
What does it mean to inherit a great estate in the twenty-first century?
In this conversation, novelist Anna Hope and biographer Catherine Bailey explore the tensions surrounding land, wealth and responsibility — themes that echo across both fiction and history.
Anna Hope’s novel Albion reimagines the English country-house novel for our time. The story follows the Brooke family as they gather after the death of their patriarch at their ancestral estate, confronting competing visions for its future — from ecological rewilding to elite luxury development. Critics have described the book as a powerful reworking of the country-house tradition, exploring inheritance, climate anxiety and the lingering moral questions surrounding land and privilege.
Historian and biographer Catherine Bailey brings the conversation into the realm of real dynasties. Her bestselling work Black Diamonds recounts the extraordinary saga of the Fitzwilliam family and Wentworth Woodhouse — one of the grandest houses in Britain — whose inheritance sparked bitter family conflict and financial catastrophe. Through archival research and dramatic storytelling, Bailey reveals how immense wealth, political power and family rivalry collided within the walls of a single estate, exposing the fragile foundations beneath aristocratic privilege.
The discussion will be moderated by Debrett’s historian Eleanor Doughty, author of Heirs and Graces and an expert on the modern British aristocracy. Drawing on her work documenting Britain’s titled families and their changing place in contemporary society, Doughty guides a conversation about what inheritance means today — and whether the great estates of Britain represent a burden, a legacy, or an opportunity for reinvention.
The afternoon interlude
Throughout the afternoon, visitors may enjoy:
Picnics in the grounds of Elveden Hall
Guided tours of the house and estate. Click here to book. Tickets are limited. (N.B. Besides the Marble Hall and Dining Room, visitors are not permitted to walk around the house unaccompanied.)
An exhibition of modern British artist, Dennis Creffield, in the Marble Hall and Guinness Chapel.
5:00 pm - Piccante
an opera cabaret with mezzo-soprano Claire Presland
The day concludes with a sparkling cabaret-style opera performance by internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Claire Presland in the spectacular setting of Elveden’s famed Marble Hall. In Piccante, Presland will blend virtuosic opera with the entertaining theatricality of cabaret, presenting a playful and unexpected programme of music drawn from opera and stage.
This session is presented by Halstead Music Festival
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The Line-Up
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Catherine Bailey
Catherine Bailey is the author of three works of twentieth-century history, including the bestselling Black Diamonds and the New York Times bestseller The Secret Rooms. Her most recent book, Fey’s War, tells the story of a mother, her missing sons, and a plot to kill Hitler. Before embarking on her publishing career, she produced a series of critically acclaimed documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, including Lie of the Land, a film about the plight of the British countryside, and the BBC Two comedy series Double Take, nominated for a BAFTA.
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Sam Dalrymple
Sam Dalrymple is a historian and writer specialising in the history of empire and the modern history of South Asia. His debut book, Shattered Lands, examines the partitions that followed the collapse of British rule in South Asia and the profound geopolitical transformations that followed. Named a Best Book of 2025 by the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Week and BBC History Magazine, the book has been translated into several languages and become an international bestseller, establishing Dalrymple as an important new voice in global history.
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Eleanor Doughty
Eleanor Doughty is a journalist and historian specialising in Britain’s aristocracy and country-house culture. She researches the peerage for Debrett’s and writes widely on titled families, estates and inheritance. Her acclaimed book Heirs and Graces explores the evolution of the British aristocracy since the Second World War, drawing on extensive interviews and archival research to illuminate how great families have adapted to the modern world. She writes for publications including the Financial Times, The Spectator, Country Life, The Times and The Telegraph.
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Arthur Edward Guinness
Arthur Edward Guinness, the 4th Earl of Iveagh, was born in Dublin and raised at Farmleigh. A farmer and landowner at Elveden in Suffolk and in County Meath, he is deeply involved in promoting the heritage of the Guinness family and supporting social and charitable initiatives in Dublin. His book Guinness: A Family Succession tells the dramatic story of the first four generations of the brewing dynasty and their rise from modest beginnings to global prominence.
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Anna Hope
Anna Hope is an internationally acclaimed British novelist whose work explores history, inheritance and the moral complexities of modern Britain. Her debut Wake, a portrait of post-First World War Britain, became an international bestseller and established her as a major literary voice. Her subsequent novels — The Ballroom, Expectation and The White Rock — have been widely praised, shortlisted for multiple literary awards and translated into more than twenty languages. Her latest novel, Albion, reimagines the English country-house story for the twenty-first century, exploring land, legacy and responsibility.
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Claire Presland
Claire Presland is an internationally acclaimed British mezzo-soprano known for her dynamic stage presence and distinctive voice. She has appeared with leading companies including the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Scottish Opera, and has performed at major festivals such as the Edinburgh International Festival and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Equally at home in opera houses and more intimate theatrical settings, Presland combines vocal virtuosity with dramatic flair.
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Adrian Tinniswood
Adrian Tinniswood OBE FSA is one of Britain’s leading historians of country houses and architectural history. The author of numerous acclaimed books including The Long Weekend and The Verneys, he is Professor of British Cultural History at the University of Buckingham. His new book The Houses of Guinness explores the homes and estates that defined the Guinness family’s extraordinary rise to wealth and influence.