Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Montpelier House, Kingstown, Taney, Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | June 21, 1910 (aged 74) |
| Occupation(s) | Evangelist, preacher, writer |
| Known for | Leadership in the 1859 Ulster Revival; training missionaries; founding East London Missionary Training Institute and Regions Beyond Missionary Union |
Henry Grattan Guinness (11 August 1835 – 21 June 1910) was an Irish Nonconformist Protestant evangelist, preacher, and writer. As a prominent leader during the Third Evangelical Awakening, he played a significant role in the 1859 Ulster Revival, drawing large crowds. Guinness was instrumental in training and dispatching hundreds of "faith missionaries" internationally.
Earlier life
Guinness entered the world at Montpelier House, located in Kingstown within Taney, Dublin, Ireland. His initial education was conducted at home by his parents before he advanced to study under Rev. Dr. Mills and Rev. C. Worthy at Cheltenham and Exeter. He descended from notable lineage as the grandson of Arthur Guinness and Olivia Whitmore. His father, John Grattan Guinness (1783–1850), served in the Madras Army of the East India Company, while his mother, Jane Lucretia D'Esterre, became a widow after her first spouse died in a duel with Daniel O'Connell, who subsequently provided her with an annuity.
At age seventeen, Guinness embarked on extensive travels through the West Indies, Mexico, Texas, and the Caribbean before returning to England in 1853. A severe illness in 1854 during a voyage to the East Indies led to his spiritual repentance and dedication to religious ministry.
In January 1856, he enrolled at New College London under Dr. Harris’s tutelage. Distinguished by his straightforward public speaking rather than academic rhetoric, he preached widely as a student. After his ordination as an evangelist in 1857, he addressed large gatherings throughout British towns and cities, including outdoor meetings; during this time, he reportedly encountered opposition from Roman Catholic groups.
Between 1858 and 1860, Guinness ministered in Canada and played a role in the conversion of A. B. Simpson. In October 1860, he married Fanny Emma Fitzgerald; their son Harry was born on 2 October 1861 in Toronto.
The Dublin Daily Express noted in 1858:
Later life
From 1860 until 1872, Guinness traveled extensively as an evangelist across France, America, the Near East, and the British Isles, earning comparisons to George Whitefield for his impactful preaching. His wife Fanny was an essential collaborator in their missionary endeavors, overseeing administrative duties and addressing diverse audiences.
He declined an invitation to join the China Inland Mission after Hudson Taylor advised him to maintain his focus on work based in London.
In 1866 at Keighley, Yorkshire, Guinness organized meetings that responded directly to lectures by freethinker Harriet Law, aiming to counteract her influence.
During an eighteen-month period in France beginning in 1868, he supported Evangelisation Populaire and the McCall Mission. That same year, he and Fanny initiated The Regions Beyond and Illustrated Missionary News, edited by Fanny, which provided updates on missionary activities worldwide including Africa and China.
Collaborating with Professor John Couch Adams on astronomical data and biblical interpretation, Guinness developed a prophetic timeline founded on "solilunar cycles," concluding that humanity approached the "redemption Sabbath" following six millennia since Adam’s creation. This chronology shaped much of his preaching and publications.
By 1872, Guinness settled with his family in London's East End where they established the East London Missionary Training Institute (Harley College) at Harley House in Bromley-by-Bow with an initial cohort of six students. Co-led by Dr. Thomas Barnardo, this institution trained 1,330 missionaries representing over thirty societies and denominations.
As enrollment expanded, Harley College moved in 1883 to "Cliff House" near Calver in Derbyshire and was renamed Hulme Cliff College—currently known as Cliff College—continuing its mission training legacy.
In 1873 Guinness founded the East London Institute for Home and Foreign Missions, which later became known as the Regions Beyond Missionary Union. In 1877 he launched the Livingstone Inland Mission, active in regions such as Congo, Argentina, and Peru. His son Henry Grattan Guinness Jr. (1861–1915) established the Congo-Balolo Mission in 1888 and co-founded the Congo Reform Association in 1904; he also traveled to India where he critically examined local religious traditions.
Following Fanny’s passing in 1898, Guinness remarried Grace Alexandra Hurditch in 1903.
Between 1903 and 1907 they conducted worldwide missionary tours before Guinness retired to Bath, Somerset in 1908 where he subsequently passed away.
Legacy
His daughter, the writer Mary Geraldine Guinness, wed Frederick Howard Taylor, who was the son of J. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. Among his offspring, seven pursued careers in Christian ministry. One of his sons, Dr. Gershom Whitfield Guinness, served as a medical missionary in China, survived the Boxer Rebellion, and established the first hospital in Henan located south of the Yellow River.
A granddaughter named Ruth Eileen became the wife of Ronald Fisher, a prominent geneticist and statistician influential in the development of Neo-Darwinism.
His daughter Lucy authored the book Across India at the Dawn of the 20th Century, wherein she conveyed aspirations to evangelize indigenous communities.
His great-grandson, Os Guinness, continues to be an active writer and public speaker.
Sources
- Hudson Taylor & China's Open Century Volume Three: If I Had a Thousand Lives; Alfred James Broomhall; Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1982
- Christ Alone – A Pictorial Presentation of Hudson Taylor's Life and Legacy; OMF International, 2005
External links
- Bible Lectures by Henry Grattan Guinness
- Creation Centered in Christ by Henry Grattan Guinness Vol. 1 Vol. 2
- History Unveiling Prophecy, Or, Time as an Interpreter by Henry Grattan Guinness
- "Not Unto Us": A Record of Twenty-one Years' Missionary Service by H. Grattan Guinness
- Romanism and the Reformation: From the Standpoint of Prophecy by Henry Grattan Guinness (1887; 2nd edition 1891)
- "The City of the Seven Hills" by Henry Grattan Guinness (1891)
- The Approaching End of the Age by Henry Grattan Guinness 1878 edition Second Edition 1879 Eighth edition 1882
- The Divine Programme of the World's History (1892 edition) by Henry Grattan Guinness
- The H. Grattan Guinness Archives @ Historicism.com at www.historicism.com
- "Key to the Apocalypse" by Henry Grattan Guinness (1899)
- Guinness, Henry Grattan (1835-1910): British evangelist, author, and missionary trainer