Maria Gunning

1732 - 1760  (28 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Maria Gunning
  Birth	1732
  Christening	15 Aug 1732	Hemingford Grey, Huntingdonshire, England
  Gender	Female
  Death	30 Sep 1760
  Siblings	2 Siblings
  + 1. Maria Gunning,   b. 1732   d. 30 Sep 1760  (Age 28 years) ▻ Earl George William Coventry,  m. Mar 1752 + 2. Baroness Elizabeth Gunning,   c. 7 Dec 1733   d. 20 Dec 1790, Argyll House, London, Middlesex, England  (Age ~ 57 years) ▻ Duke James Douglas-Hamilton,  m. 14 Feb 1752 ;   Duke John Campbell,  m. 3 Mar 1759 + 3. Maj. Gen. John Gunning,   b. 1742   d. 1797  (Age 55 years) ▻ Rebecca Howard
  Person ID	I164707	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	6 Jan 2008

  
  

  Father	Col. John Gunning   d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Bridget Bourke   d. Yes, date unknown
  Marriage	1731
  Family ID	F97762	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Earl George William Coventry,   b. 26 Apr 1722   d. 3 Sep 1809 (Age 87 years)
  Marriage	Mar 1752	St. George's, Hanover Square, London, Middlesex, England
  Children	+ 1. Mary Alicia Coventry,   b. 19 Dec 1754   d. 8 Jan 1784 (Age 29 years) + 2. Earl George William Coventry,   b. 28 Apr 1758   d. 26 Mar 1831, Coventry House, Picadilly, Middlesex, England (Age 72 years)   3. Anne Margaret Coventry
  Family ID	F250657	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Feb 2017

  
  

• Event Map	Click to hide
  		Marriage - Mar 1752 - St. George's, Hanover Square, London, Middlesex, England  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

  Maria Gunning

  
  

• Notes

  The Gunning Sisters of Castlecoote by Mount Talbot - A Journey Through the Ages The following extract is from my upcoming book on the Landed Estates of Co. Roscommon, it relates to the infamous Gunning sisters of Castlecoote House: 'Richard Gunning was a young soldier under the command of Sir Charles Coote in the latter stages of the Nine Years War. After overall victory in the war Richard was awarded lands near Castlecoote and built a house near the present village of Fuerty. He married Margaret Malone of Castlecoote in 1610. Richards grandson John married Bridget Bourke, daughter of Theobald Bourke from the influential Clanricarde family and they went on to have five children, namely: Kitty, Elizabeth, Maria,Lissy and John. To accommodate their larger family, the Gunnings took a lease of Castlecoote House in 1742.The family struggled financially as John lost an enormous amount of money through gambling and high living. Bridget used her connections through her own family, the Clanricarde Burke’s, to introduce her daughters to the Dublin social scene hoping their natural good looks would open doors to the upper echelons of Irish society. The Viceroy of Ireland, the Earl of Harrington, became acquainted with them and introduced the girls to the aristocracy in London. Maria and Elizabeth Gunning took London by storm and within a short period of time they were ever present at the top dances and balls in the City. They were presented to King George II at the court of St. James in December 1750 and made a lasting impression. Maria, known for her beauty rather than her intelligence, remarked to the King that she would love to see a coronation, this of course would require the death of the monarch. The King found this very amusing, presuming Maria was being funny and yet another man had been won over by the Gunning sisters of Castlecoote. Crowds followed the sisters around London, eager to get a glimpse of the famous beauties. Both girls were painted by the well-known artist of the time, Sir Joshua Reynolds and their portraits may be seen in the main hall of Castlecoote House today. Elizabeth Gunning met the 6th Duke of Hamilton at a St. Valentine’s Day masquerade ball in 1752. He was immediately smitten and summoned a parson to marry them there and then but the parson refused as no licence was in place and the Duke had no wedding ring. He quickly brought Elizabeth to a Mayfair Chapel where no licence was needed and married her using a ring he found in a bed-curtain. The Duke died during a hunt just six years later and within months of her husband’s death Elizabeth had received a marriage proposal from the Duke of Bridgewater. She turned down this marriage proposal in favour of another proposal from the Marquess of Lorne, whom she married in 1759. Elizabeth was a close friend of Queen Charlotte and was made a Baroness by George III. She passed away at the age of fifty seven leaving two future Dukes of Hamilton and two future Dukes of Argyll. Maria married the 6th Earl of Coventry in 1752 but her marriage was an unhappy one from the beginning. Maria failed miserably to fit into high society due to her clumsy manner and lack of education. She began to apply thick layers of lead-based pigment to her face, as was the fashion at the time in Paris. The pigment reacted badly with her skin causing blotching and sores which she tried to hide using more and more make-up. The Duke tired of his wife and had a number of extra marital affairs and Maria embarked on a number of affairs herself, including one with a future Prime Minister, the 3rd Duke of Grafton. The pigment that Maria was applying to her skin caused her much sickness and her body started to react badly to the lead within the pigment. She died from blood poisoning in September 1760 at just twenty seven years of age leaving three children, one of whom would become the 7th Earl of Coventry'.