Background
He was born to Walter Edward Guinness (created 1st Baron Moyne in 1932), son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, and Lady Evelyn Stuart Erskine, daughter of the 14th Earl of Buchan.
He was born to Walter Edward Guinness (created 1st Baron Moyne in 1932), son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, and Lady Evelyn Stuart Erskine, daughter of the 14th Earl of Buchan.
He attended Heatherdown School, near Ascot in Berkshire, followed by Eton College (also in Berkshire), and Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1931.
As an heir to the Guinness brewing fortune and a handsome, charming young man, Bryan was an eligible bachelor. One of London"s "Bright Young Things", he was an organiser of the 1929 "Bruno Hat" hoax art exhibition, held at his home in London. Diana Mitford, one of the Mitford sisters, and had two sons with her: Jonathan and Desmond.
The couple became leaders of the London artistic and social scene and were dedicatees of Evelyn Waugh"s second novel Vile Bodies.
Guinness remarried happily in 1936 to Elisabeth Nelson (1912-1999), of the Nelson publishing family, with whom he would have nine children. Rosaleen (b 1937) married Sudhiir Mulji.
Diarmid, (b 1938, d 1977) married Felicity, daughter of Sir Andrew Carnwath. Fiona (b 1940)
Finn (b 1945) married Mary Price.
Kieran (b 1949) married Vivienne Halban.
Thomasin (b 1947)
Catriona (b 1950)
Erskine (b 1953) married Louise Dillon-Malone
Mirabel (b 1956) married Patrick Helme
During World World War II Guinness served for three years in the Middle East with the Spears Mission to the Free French, being a fluent French speaker, with the rank of major. After the war, Lord Moyne served on the board of the Guinness corporation, as well as the Guinness Trust and the Iveagh Trust, sitting as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. He served for 35 years as a trustee of the National Gallery of Ireland and donated several works to the gallery.
He wrote a number of critically applauded novels, memoirs, books of poetry, and plays.
With Frank Pakenham he sought the return of the "Lane Bequest" to Dublin, resulting in the 1959 compromise agreement.