If you have a drop of Guinness in your blood stream, then you're welcome to be part of this legendary family that's spread globally.

A ‘Meet the Author' evening at Mount Mellick this week was an opportunity for far-flung members of the family to come together, some meeting each other for the first time.

Tauranga resident Rod Smith, the author of the recently published 'Guinness Down Under” has traced the story of how the legendary Guinness stout made it all the way from Ireland to Australia and New Zealand in the 1800's.

Rod's wife Glennis, who he has been married to since 1971, is the great-grand-daughter of Sarah Guinness, a key character in the book. Family are still welcomed back in Ireland, regardless of how thin the connection may be. If you're a Guinness, you're a Guinness Rod says.

Rod started to write a story on the history of Glennis's family, which led into a history of the Guinness family's link with NZ. Glennis is a sixth-generation descendant of Ireland's Arthur Guinness who, legend has it, created the famous Guinness stout flavour when he was meant to be helping his stepmother brew the ale for her inn and burnt the barley after roasting it for too long.
The truth is a London brewer took the Porter recipe to Dublin. In 1851 the first shipment of Guinness came to this country.

'There's always been enough drinkers to sustain the volumes in New Zealand,” says Rod.

David and Stewart Williamson.

Omokoroa resident Paul Guinness, also a descendent of Arthur Guinness, comes from a different branch of the same family.
'The family came up from the South Island to Tauranga in 1908,” says Paul. 'They bought a business selling petrol and farm appliances at No.1 The Strand and my great-grandfather called it Guinness Brothers.”
He remembers playing there as a boy and how barrels of whisky were poured into bottles.

Rod rang me about five years ago and said he was doing research on a book,” says Paul. 'I was going to Wellington for a wedding so I took down what I thought he'd be interested in.”
They exchanged phone calls and emails and, after the Smiths moved to Tauranga, they met up again.
A former Evening Post reporter, Rod, who has researched and written family stories, first heard about his wife's family history from his mother-in-law Pauline.
'She told me about it in 1992,” says Rod.
'That's what began it all, but the real serious digging started about 2005.”

Darryn Bennett and David Bennett.

Rod has been on a ‘Meet the Author' tour around NZ with Glennis, visiting Whanganui, Hamilton, Christchurch, Wellington, Fairlie, Greymouth, the Hawkes Bay and Auckland.

'We've been to Melbourne together as well, and I visited Adelaide and Sydney,” says Rod. He met more members of the Guinness family in Sydney.

Sadly, Pauline recently passed away, albeit, was able to enjoy the result of the hours of research and writing. Pauline and Glennis's family story is chapter seven, and Paul's is chapter six.

Glennis Smith, Pauline Williamson, Rod Smith and Paul Guinness.

Guinness is a name instantly recognised the world over – the famous stout has been brewed at St James's Gate in Dublin for over 250 years, and is now brewed under contract in fifty countries. Nine million glasses of Guinness are drunk each day worldwide.

Guinness family members, originally in three major groupings − brewing, banking, and the church – have achieved fame in all walks of life, with some scaling great heights, others tasting great sadness. Guinness Down Under is the never-before-told story of how the famous brew and the family came to New Zealand and Australia in the mid-1800s – the brew itself through export and eventually in-country brewing, and the family through four grandsons of Arthur Guinness who made a new life Down Under, where many of their descendants remain.

Jane Williamson, Malcolm Williamson and Suzanne Williamson.

In this in-depth and fascinating account we learn about the origins of Guinness stout, the nature of the export trade, and the vagaries of the market. Outlined are the challenges, highlights, and sadness in the complex lives of the four cousins who, independently and at different times, sought to make a better life for themselves Down Under. The entrepreneur, public figure, and political activist; the successful Canterbury pastoralist; the 'black sheep” of the family who set up as a Guinness brewer in Melbourne then disappeared forever; the clergyman who took his family to a vicarage in Melbourne, just when the new city was flourishing.

Also described is the progress of the iconic Guinness stout in Australia and New Zealand, from early imports in the mid-1800s through to present-day production in Adelaide and Auckland.

The book is completely fascinating in so many ways - the local perspective, the challenges that various family members overcame and the link to one of the most famous and iconic drinks in the world.

It hasn't sold out yet, it's a great idea for a Father's Day gift and there are still copies available. Guinness Down Under is available at selected book retailers and also online at www.guinnessdu.co.nz

John, Paul and Steve Guinness.

Jenny Hunt and Rod Smith

Glennis Smith and Pete Holdsworth

Author Rod Smith with his new book ‘Guinness Down Under'