What is the connection between the brewery and the GUINNESS® Book of Records?
The GUINNESS® Book of Records was the brain child of Sir Hugh Beaver, former Managing Director of the company. In the 1950s, while at a hunting party, he was involved in an argument about whether the golden plover was faster than the grouse. He couldn’t find the answer in any reference book and it occurred to him that this sort of question would arise frequently in pubs and that a book, which answered such questions, would be useful to licensees. Chris Chataway, a record breaking athlete was then an Under Brewer at the London brewey. He recommended the McWhirter Bros, who ran a fact finding agency in Fleet Street, to Sir Beaver. They were immediately commissioned to compile what was to become the “GUINNESS® Book of Records”. The first edition was published in 1955.
