Edwin Guest was born on 10 September 1800, the only son of a successful Birmingham merchant. He entered Gonville and Caius College in 1819, took his BA as eleventh wrangler in 1824, and was elected a fellow the same year. In 1828 he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, and practised as a barrister for some years before retiring to concentrate on his scholarly interests, particularly English philology and Romano-British history and topography. In 1852, to the surprise of many (including himself) he was elected Master of his college in a three-cornered contest, holding the office until shortly before his death, and being responsible for the extensive rebuilding of Caius. He served as Vice-Chancellor from 1854 to 1855. In 1859 he married Anne Banner (1823-1900), the widow of an army officer. He had earlier purchased the Sandford Park estate in Oxfordshire, and it was there that he died on 23 November 1880.