Elizabeth Hamilton. Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, 1st Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon, earlier Elizabeth Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton, Gunning, was a celebrated Anglo-Irish beauty, lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, and society hostess.
Born in Hemingford Grey, Huntingdonshire, Elizabeth Gunning was one of the daughters of John Gunning of Castle Coote, County Roscommon, and his wife, Bridget Bourke, a daughter of Theobald Bourke, 3rd Viscount Mayo. Elizabeth's elder sister was Maria Gunning, later Countess of Coventry.
In late 1740 or early 1741, the Gunning family returned from England to John Gunning's ancestral home in Ireland, where they divided their time between their country house in Roscommon and a rented town house in Dublin. According to some sources, when Maria and her sister Elizabeth came of age, their mother urged them to take up acting, in order to earn a living, owing to the family's relative poverty, even though acting was not considered a respectable profession, as many actresses of that time doubled as courtesans; and that the Gunning sisters worked for some time in the Dublin theatres, befriending actors who included Margaret Woffington.
However, Woffington did not arrive in Dublin until May 1751, by which time Maria and her sister Elizabeth were in England. In October 1748, a ball was held at Dublin Castle by the Viscountess Petersham.
The two sisters did not have any
Born in Hemingford Grey, Huntingdonshire, Elizabeth Gunning was one of the daughters of John Gunning of Castle Coote, County Roscommon, and his wife, Bridget Bourke, a daughter of Theobald Bourke, 3rd Viscount Mayo. Elizabeth's elder sister was Maria Gunning, later Countess of Coventry.
In late 1740 or early 1741, the Gunning family returned from England to John Gunning's ancestral home in Ireland, where they divided their time between their country house in Roscommon and a rented town house in Dublin. According to some sources, when Maria and her sister Elizabeth came of age, their mother urged them to take up acting, in order to earn a living, owing to the family's relative poverty, even though acting was not considered a respectable profession, as many actresses of that time doubled as courtesans; and that the Gunning sisters worked for some time in the Dublin theatres, befriending actors who included Margaret Woffington.
However, Woffington did not arrive in Dublin until May 1751, by which time Maria and her sister Elizabeth were in England. In October 1748, a ball was held at Dublin Castle by the Viscountess Petersham.
The two sisters did not have any
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