Starting work in the brewery at the age of fifteen, when he was 20
          in 1868 Edward Cecil and his brother Arthur inherited the world's 
          largest porter brewery. In 1873 he married his cousin, Adelaide Maria 
          Guinness, and they became the parents of three sons. 
          In 1876 his brother Arthur, accepting a handshake of œ686,000, 
          surrendered his partnership. 
              Between 1887 and 1891, well away from the public gaze, he was 
          active in the art world, quietly buying, through agents, every 
          masterpiece from the famous English private collections he could lay 
          his hands on. It was rumoured that in one month he had purchased an 
          array of masterpieces at a cost of œ500,000, but this was exaggerated. 
          From 1890 onwards he spent more time in London than in Dublin, his 
          five-storey mansion comprising of 150 rooms and garage space for sixty 
          motor cars. 
              After having been created a Baron on 19 January 1891, a Viscount 
          on 18 December 1905, on 30 September 1919 he was created Earl of 
          Iveagh. If it is true that Edward Cecil bought his earldom with a 
          lifetime of benefactions, he is to be honoured for the way he employed 
          his spare funds. Apart from his political contributions, he put 
          œ250,000 into working-class housing projects and the same amount into 
          an institution of preventive medicine. 
              Between 1902 and 1925 Iveagh made gifts totalling around œ100,000 
          to hospitals and medical charities, including a cheque for œ50,000 
          handed to George V in 1911 to be distributed 'at His Majesty's 
          pleasure' among hospitals in Dublin. As his benefactions to the people 
          of Ireland multiplied, so did his hostility towards their struggle for 
          independence from England. 
              In 1925 he bought a graceful mansion, Ken Wood, in Hampstead and 
          bequeathed it to the public on his death two years later. Under the 
          terms of his will an important part of his private collection, in 
          those days valued at about œ300,000, was placed in Ken Wood and 
          another endowment of œ50,000 was for its upkeep. The rest of his 
          collection was left to his descendants, either directly or through the 
          Iveagh trusts. 
              In 1916 his wife died and his latter years were spent living alone 
          in London, in semi-retirement, with frequent visits by his children 
          and grandchildren. On 8 October 1927, the 1st Earl of Iveagh died in 
          his Grosvenor Place mansion from a heart attack, a month short of his 
          eightieth birthday.