Elizabeth Gunning, 1st Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon

Elizabeth Gunning
Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon
The 1st Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon
Issue Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby James Douglas-Hamilton, 7th Duke of Hamilton Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton Lady Augusta Campbell George John Campbell, Earl of Campbell George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll Lady Charlotte Campbell John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll
Father	John Gunning
Mother	Hon. Bridget Bourke
Born	1733 Hemingford Grey, Huntingdonshire
Died	1790 age 57 Argyll House, London
Buried	Kilmun, Argyllshire

Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess of Hamilton, Duchess of Argyll & 1st Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon (c. December 1733 – 20 December 1790) was a celebrated Irish belle and society hostess.

Born Elizabeth Gunning in Hemingford Grey, Huntingdonshire, she was the daughter of John Gunning of Castle Coote, County Roscommon and his wife, the Hon. Bridget Bourke, daughter of Theobald Bourke (1681–1741), 6th Viscount Mayo. Elizabeth's elder sister was Maria Gunning.

In late 1740 or early 1741, the Gunning family returned to John Gunning's ancestral home in Ireland, where they divided their time between their home in Roscommon, and a rented 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, due to the family's relative poverty. The sources further state that the Gunning sisters worked for some time in the Dublin theatres, befriending actors like Margaret Woffington, even though acting was not considered a respectable profession as many actresses of that time doubled as courtesans to wealthy benefactors. However, other sources differ and point out that Margaret 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 dresses for the gathering until Tom Sheridan, the manager of one of the local theatres, supplied them with two costumes from the green room, those of Lady Macbeth and Juliet. Wearing the costumes, they were presented to the Earl of Harrington, the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Harrington must have been pleased by the meeting as, by 1750, Bridget Gunning had persuaded him to grant her a pension, which she then used to transport herself, Maria, and Elizabeth, back to their original home in Huntingdon, England. With their attendance at local balls and parties, the beauty of two girls was much remarked upon. They became well-known celebrities, their fame reaching all the way to London, with themselves following soon afterwards. On 2 December 1750, they were presented at the court of St James. By this time, they were sufficiently famous that the presentation was noted in the London newspapers.