For some, it may be tempting to consider the start of the Guinness family curse as lying with the founder of the Dublin brewery himself, Sir Arthur Guinness. According to Irish Central, the original brewer of the famous beer had 21 children with his wife Olivia Whitmore but outlived more than half of them, with 11 of his children dying before they reached adulthood.
Now, by today's standards, having just a single child die would already be considered a tragedy. But Guinness and his family were from the 18th century, a time where the life expectancy was much lower and the child mortality rate was high. According to Our World In Data, before the 19th century, nearly half of all kids died before the age of 15, with most of the world having an average youth mortality rate of 46.2 percent. So, for the Guinnesses, outliving half of their children was something they likely expected. No tragic curse there.
By his time's standards, Arthur Guinness actually seemed to have a great life. He was born into an aristocratic family, established a legendary business, and even lived to the age of 78! That's more than double the average life expectancy back then, according to historical demographer Jona Schellekens. After his death, there were tales of alcoholism and mental illness plaguing his grandchildren and descendants, but it wasn't until the 20th century that a pattern of tragedies begin to be noticed by the public.
