House of Guinness introduces Arthur Guinness as a gay man, raising questions about whether this was actually the case. The Guinness family is one of the most storied wealthy families in the world, with their rise to prominence and international success with the Guinness beer brand closely tied to the history of Ireland since its inception.
Actor Anthony Boyle plays Arthur Guinness in House of Guinness’s cast, the eldest of the four siblings who co-inherits the family business after the death of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness. The series depicts him as having numerous romantic flings with other men, even after his marriage to Lady Olivia Hedges.
Some Historians Have Suggested That The Real Arthur Guinness Was Gay
The historical setting of 1860s Ireland, ruled by the British at the time, wasn’t kind to homosexuality, with the act of penetration resulting in a lifetime of incarceration. In fact, Henry VIII established a law in 1533 that made the act punishable by hanging, and this was kept in place until the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861.
At the time of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness’s death in 1868, Arthur still would have been taking a tremendous risk, and that’s why there’s no concrete evidence that he was gay. He never publicly came out, which wouldn’t have happened at the time anyway, especially for an upper-class man running for public office.
With that being said, there is still precedent for the TV show’s decision to make Arthur gay. Irish writer Joe Joyce, who wrote The Guinnesses: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Most Successful Family in 2009 after years of thorough archival research, came to speculate that Arthur was likely gay and that his marriage to Olivia Hedges was a “mariage blanc.”
Arthur Guinness and Olivia Hedges were married for nearly five decades and had no children. While this could happen for many reasons, it’s certainly an uncommon situation for the eldest sibling in a famous family. Regardless, House of Guinness is historical fiction that speculates on the drama, and it’s certainly effective in making an entertaining show.
Arthur Guinness’s Uncle, The Third Arthur, Was Involved In A Scandal About His Affair With A Male Playwright
Anyone doing research on Arthur Guinness might have trouble narrowing down results, as many of the images and search results are focused on different Arthurs, such as the man who invented Guinness beer. That Arthur was the great-grandfather of the one we see in the show. View all the Arthurs up to House of Guinness’s time below: