The Corvey Novels Project at the University of Nebraska

— Studies in British Literature of the Romantic Period —

 

Biographical and Contextual sketch of the Gunning Family and their Milieu

OVERVIEW

Susannah (née Minifie) Gunning (1740? - 1800)
· Daughter of the Revd Dr. James Minifie, D.D. of Fairwater in Somerset.
· Sister, Margaret Minifie
· According to Todd (British Women Writers) SG wrote 13 novels, some of them with her sister, six of them epistolary, one long poem (Virginius and Virginia) and a defense of her daughter's conduct during the Gunning scandal (see below).
· 1763, first novel published with her sister, Margaret: Histories of Lady Frances S--- and Lady Caroline S---
· Tends toward hyperbole, a habit for which Lady Harcourt coined the word "minific"
· Lived in Fairwater, Somerset at time of publication of first novel in 1763
· Married Captain John Gunning in 1768 of 65th Regiment of Foot. He later became lieutenant-General Gunning ("General Gunning" see below). In "Letter from Mrs. Gunning to His Grace the Duke of Argyll" (1791) SG writes that she regrets 22 of 23 years of marriage to General Gunning.
· In 1769, has one child, Elizabeth, who would also become a prolific novelist. (See below.)

(General) John Gunning (d. 1797)
· Son of John Gunning of Castle Coote, (co. Roscommon Ireland) and Bridget, daughter of the sixth viscount Mayo
· He was "articulate and spoiled" (Todd, British Women Writers)
· JG's sisters are the Gunning beauties (see below)
· Distinguished himself in the battle of Bunker's Hill
· Married Susannah Minifie, the novelist (see above)

The Gunning Sisters (a.k.a. "The Beauties")
Three sisters of John. They didn't write novels, but they were celebrated court beauties in the Court of George III. Maria (1733-60) marries the Earl of Coventry, but came to an untimely end, as a result of using lead based make-up (not to mention arsenic) as beauty aids. In 1759, Elizabeth (1734-90) marries the 5th Duke of Argyll. At that time, she was already the widow of the sixth Duke of Hamilton, who had married her "precipitously" (DNB) at half past midnight, using a bed curtain for a ring (Horace Walpole). She was thus the wife of two dukes, and the mother of four, and was created Baroness Hamilton in her own right in 1776. Her sons by the Duke of Argyll became successively sixth and seventh Dukes. The latter was a friend of Madame de Staël, who pictured him as Lord Nevil in her famous novel, Corinne. The eldest son, George Campbell, is the Marquis of Lorne who figures in the scandal. George eventually became 6th Duke of Argyll. When George died without an heir, his John (1777-1847) succeeded him. Augusta and Charlotte were sisters to George and John. Charlotte became Lady Charlotte (Campbell) Bury. She was one of the women commissioned to conduct the Princess Charlotte to England in September to be married to the king, and was appointed a lady of the bedchamber (DNB). There was also a third Gunning sister, Catherine, who married a plain Irish esquire, John Travis. She dies in 1775.

Elizabeth (Gunning) Plunkett (1769-1823)
Daugther of Susannah (Minifie) Gunning. By all accounts, accomplished and beautiful. According to Todd, it seems likely that the mother and her aunt spurred her on to produce her first 3 novels (The Packet, Lord Fitzhenry, and Memoirs of Mme. De Barneveldt). During this period Susannah Gunning publishes nothing. Although EP was heavily indebted to French techniques, her mother apparently influenced her throughout her early career. In the 1790s, for instance, both wrote books set in Wales. EP eventually surpassed her mother in sheer quantity and published, as well as nine novels, two collections of children's stories, 5 trans. Or "alterations" of French novels and one version of a French play (The Wife with Two Husbands). She translated Fontenelle's Plurality of Worlds, one of her father's favorite works. She leaned toward the gothic rather than the satiric. (Todd, British Women Writers). The Packet, for example, contains a gothic sequence in which the heroine is abducted and hidden in an unnamed country full of tigers and wolves. In 1803, she marries John Plunkett (Sage, 502), an Irish major.

Margaret Minifie (1763-80)
· Never marries.
· Co-writes several novels with Susannah before Susannah marries John Gunning.
· MM carefully distinguishes some of the influences of sex and class. Her women are particularly ungenerous, one of them referring to Olivia as "a dirt-sprung girl." (Todd, Dictionary)
· She shows up as helpful and sympathetic to Susannah and Elizabeth in Susannah Gunning's public letter to the Duke of Argyll.

Lady Charlotte (Campbell) Bury (1775-1861)
Daughter of Elizabeth Gunning Campbell, Duchess of Hamilton and Argyll. See above under "The Gunning Sisters". Another prolific novelist, CB is well represented in the Corvey collection. See Behrendt and Kushigians Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period for Pam Perkins' essay on Bury and for a selection of her poetry: http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/SWRPLive/bios/S7026-D001.html

The "Gunningiad"
Elizabeth is being courted by [?flirting with?] the Marquis and Blandford and the Marquis of Lorne. When the Duke of Argyll asks whether or not the Duke of Marlborough (Blandford's father) knows of the projected match, General Gunning writes to the Duke of Marlborough to find out. A forged letter shows up at the Gunning's house on St. James's St., ostensibly written by the Marquis of Blandford. This letter releases Elizabeth from matrimonial promises. The letter is supposed to convince the Marquis of Lorne (son of the Duke of Argyll and Elizabeth's cousin) to hurry up and propose. Then, cousins of General Gunning's, Mr. & Mrs. Bowen, produce other letters, supposedly written by Elizabeth, declaring her love for Lorne, rather than Blandford. General Gunning kicks his daughter, Elizabeth, out of his house during the scandal and Susannah follows her daughter. Strangely enough, mother and daughter are sheltered by the Duchess of Bedford, Blandford's grandmother, "who had introduced the Gunning beauties to society and "uncritically adored their niece" (Todd, British Women Writers). Susannah Gunning responds with a public published 'Letter' to the Duke of Argyll declaring her daughter's innocence. The letter is over the top. Her daughter is an angel, incapable of vice (see caricature listings below, mocking SG's use of language to describe her daughter). Susannah accuses her husband's evil, vicious, low-class cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Bowen (and an unnamed Irish groom) of perpetrating the forgeries. Indirectly, this amounts to an accusation of her husband. (And she mentions his infidelities as a sidenote.) After a brief stay abroad, EP and her mother return to London. Shortly thereafter, General Gunning is brought to court and fined £5,000 for "criminal conversation" with the wife of army uniform supplier. The General hastens to Naples (taking the tailor's wife with him). An "Apology" appears in 1792, boasting of GG's sexual conquests with many of the wives of famous aristocrats of the day. It is supposedly authored by General Gunning, but as Lisa points out, it would be odd for someone to write something so completely unflattering. The General stayed abroad until his death, but altered his will the day before he died, supposedly after receiving a letter from Elizabeth. He left money and property to Susannah and Elizabeth.

In response to Mrs. Gunning's public letter to the Duke of Argyll, bits of which were reprinted in periodicals, pamphlets, and caricatures, the issue explodes into print. Horace Walpole dubs the whole thing 'the Gunningiad.' Gillray, Cruikshank and others produce caricatures. Lisa counted nine (see list below).

Note: Lisa Wilson has observed that Lorne (George William Campbell, 1766-1839) would become the 6th Duke of Argyll upon his succession in 1806. He was the heir to huge estates in Scotland, and was later Steward of the Household the William IV and Queen Victoria. He is mentioned at length in Harriette Wilson's Memoirs, where he comes off as being quite fashionably rakish, having had affairs with both Wilson and her older sister Amy before his 1810 marriage to Caroline Elizabeth, divorced wife of the 1st Marquis of Anglesey.

GUNNING BOOK LIST
Note: Titles in the Corvey Collection are marked with an asterisk.
Attributions remain uncertain.

Susannah [née Minifie] Gunning

· Histories of Lady Frances S--- and Lady Caroline S--- (1763). Co-published with Margaret Minifie. 800 Subscriptions. (!)
· Family Pictures (1764) [With Margaret?]
· The Picture (1766 - with Margaret)
· Barford Abbey (1768) Might be ONLY by Margaret. See notes under this title in Margaret Minifie section, below. ). Garland has published a facsimile reprint of this novel.
· The Cottage (1769) Shattock also says this is by Margaret
· The Hermit (Dublin 1770) [all above novels are conventional distressed virgins achieving aristocratic marriages, according to Todd, British Women Writers, 144] [Hermit "turned on love and marriage in aristocratic circles" according to Shattock]
· Coombe Wood (1783) It's not clear that this is by Susannah. It might be by Margaret Minifie. The heroine loves her cousin but does not intend to marry him.
· "A Letter from Mrs. Gunning to His Grace the Duke of Argyll." (1791) This is a public letter to the Duke of Argyll ostensibly attempting to clear Elizabeth's reputation; obviously also attempting to indict General Gunning and the Bowens. 98 pages. Available on ESTC.
*** Anecdotes of the Delborough Family (1792) FrontPages contain "Advertisement to the Reader" denying any correspondence between the characters in this novel and the characters in real life. Author claims she began the novel 11 years ago. This novel was printed in 1792.
· Virginius and Virginia (1792) Long poem. Theme: father and child should never "be debar'd". Elizabeth Gunning refers to the story of Virginius and Virginia in her "Letter from Mrs. Gunning." This work is clearly connected to the scandal.
*** Memoirs of Mary (1793) 3rd edition by 1794. P&J say this is "probably the best" of Gunning's works. "cleverly written epistolary novel, which relieves the stasis of letters with idiomatic expressions and clever plotting, is one of the better minor novels of its period. Heroine suffers because of a forged letter. Again - reference to scandal is difficult to avoid.
· Delves (1796) Young boy's quixotic expedition. Wales.
*** Love at First Sight (transl. 1797)
*** Fashionable Involvements (1800) [This is by Susannah, not Elizabeth. Corvey lists author as Elizabeth.] This is story of aristocratic excess in contrast to middle class industry and restraint. The villains are the rich titled aristocrats whose marriage is empty. They squander their money, and produce stupid, irresponsible children. Except for one child, who is raised by an industrious working class couple. She ends up all goodness (though she is in danger of being corrupted by her parents).
*** The Heir Apparent (1802) Cross-listed with Elizabeth, below. (Susannah Gunning left this unfinished when she died. EP finishes it and publishes it.)
· The Union (1803). Listed in Garside under "Miss Minifie [Susannah Gunning.]" But SG's death in 1800 and the fact that SG had been publishing as "Mrs. Gunning" makes this claim problematic.

Margaret Minifie

· Histories of Lady Frances S--- and Lady Caroline S--- (1763) With Susannah.
· Family Pictures (1764)
· The Picture (1766 - with Susannah)
· Barford Abbey (1768) According to Paul & June Schlueter, it is tempting to compare Miss Warley's marriage to Lord Darcey in Barford Abbey with G's marriage to the son of a viscount's daughter (211). Shattock says this novel is solely by MM. Lisa has an interesting theory about the authorship (see Lisa Wilson). Garland has published a facsimile reprint of this novel.
· Coombe Wood (1783) prior to Todd (Sign of Angellica), it had been attributed to SG. Now to MM.
· Le Count de Poland (1780) Distributed by Dodsley. Probably 100% Margaret
· The Union (1803). Garside thinks this is by Susannah.

Elizabeth (Gunning) Plunkett

· Several French translations
· The Packet (1794) Todd thinks that this novel was written under influence of Susannah and Margaret. Available on ESTC microfilm. I printed out a paper copy if anyone wants to borrow it.
*** Lord Fitzhenry (1794) Todd also thinks that this novel was written under influence of Susannah and Margaret.
· Memoirs of Mme de Barneveldt (transl. 1795)
*** The Foresters (1796) Todd also thinks that this novel was written under influence of Susannah and Margaret. Title page says "Miss Gunning".
??? *** Durval and Adelaide, a Novel. (transl. 1796) By Catherine Lara (Ward says this is a pseud.)
*** The Orphans of Snowdon (1797) Two orphans born in the sublime beauties of Wales. Abandoned by mother. Father dies. The very young children trek by themselves to London. Taken in by kind strangers. I don't want to give away ending. Samantha points out that it would have made a great Shirley Temple flick, but this is not to imply that she actually enjoyed this novel, to which I seem to remember she applied the adjective "treacly". I, of course, loved it. Lisa Wilson notes that it is mentioned in Hannah More's Coelebs in Search of a Wife, in which More pokes fun at the low reading habits of one of her hero's marriage prospects. When asked if she likes Virgil's poetry, the woman "stared and said she had never heard of the person [the hero] mentioned, but that she had read Tears of Sensibility, and Rosa Matilda, and Sympathy of Souls, and Too Civil by Half, and the Sorrows of Werter, and the Stranger, and the Orphans of Snowdon."
*** The Gipsey Countess (1799)
*** The Heir Apparent (1802) Cross-listed with Susannah, above. (Susannah Gunning left this unfinished when she died. EP finishes it and publishes it.)
*** The Farmer's Boy (1802) …also under influence of Susannah and Margaret. Lisa Wilson and I noticed that the Corvey edition title page of this novel says "By Miss Gunning" "author of Love at First Sight -- Gipsey Countess". But that just confuses matters because Love at First Sight is published by Mrs. Gunning (Susannah) and Gipsey Countess is published by Miss Gunning (Elizabeth). Lisa notes that this title is illustrated with a portrait-frontispiece of "Miss Gunning," which she thinks is the same one copied on the Corvey website.
· Translation of Fontanelle's Plurality of Worlds (1803)
· Translation of The Wife with two Husbands; a Tragi-comedy in Three Acts. (1803?) Not performed.
*** The War-Office (1803) [Don't be misled by the title. Lisa Wilson's quick skim suggests that this might have little to nothing to do with the war office.]
*** The Exile of Erin (1808)
*** Dangers Through Life; Or the Victim of Seduction (1810)
· Victims of Seduction (1815)
· Two collections of didactic stories for children

Gunning Caricatures (Dorothy George catalogue)

Plate # 7951, "Helen of Hamstead" and "The Gallant General"
Town and country magazine 23 (Nov. 1 1791): 435 in Histories of the Tet-a-tete

# 7980, "The Seige of Blenheim--or--The New System of Gunning, Discovered--"
Gillray, March 5, 1791

#7981 "The Naked Truth, or, the Sweet Little Angel Turned out For Lorne"
Dent, March 25, 1791

# 7982 "Betty Canning Revived:--or--A Peep at the Conjuration of Mary Squires & the Gypsey Family."
Gillray, March 25, 1792 [1?]
     Miss Gunning, Mrs. Gunning, Nauntee Peg (Miss Minifie), And Gen. Gunning's Groom.
     This caricature refers to the same occurrence as the preceding print. It is a parody on the well known story of Elizabeth Canning and her pretended persecutions. It alludes to a circumstance which caused considerable sensation in the fashionable world.
     General Gunning had a most beautiful and accomplished daughter; her charms attracted many admirers, among other the Marquis of Blandford, eldest son of the duke of Marlborough, and the Marquis of Lorne, eldest son of the Duke of Argyll. At first the young lady seemed to favour the pretensions of the Marquis of Lorne, but in a short time she evinced a decided preference for the Marquis of Blandford. The Duke of Argyll, who had married the widow of the Duke of Hamilton, a sister of General Gunning, inquired of the General, whether the Duke of Marlborough was apprised of his son's attentions to his daughter, and approved of the projected matrimonial alliance. The General frankly admitted he did not know, but would immediately address a letter to the Duke of Marlborough on the subject, and if he disapproved of the match, he would at once put an end to the affair. Accordingly he wrote a letter to the Duke, and sent it to Blenheim by his groom. He received an answer expressive of the duke's entire approval of his son's choice, and of this own deep sense of the good qualities of the young lady. General Gunning immediately repaired to the Duke of Argyll, who, having read the letter attentively, expressed strong suspicions of its authenticity. General Gunning then went to Lord Charles Spencer, the duke's brother, who unhesitatingly pronounced the letter to be "an awkward imitation of the Duke of Marlborough's handwriting." The seal was either an impression from a small seal, which the Duke had ceased to use for many years, or from one copied from it. General Gunning returned home, and questioned his wife and daughter on the subject; they assured him the letter was genuine, or they had been imposed on. The General next interrogated the groom, who, impelled partly by threats, and partly by solicitations, confessed he had been bribed by Miss Gunning, who had furnished him with the letter. The General then turned his daughter out of his house, and shortly after separated form his wife. Mrs. Gunning published a large pamphlet, entitled, "A Letter to the Duke of Argyll," in which she attributed the forgery to Captain and Mrs. Bowen, whom she had offended by endeavouring to prevent their marriage, at the earnest solicitation of Mrs. Bowen's father. But Mrs. Gunning does not attempt to explain how the Bowens became acquainted with the General's intention to write to the Duke of Marlborough, or transmit his letter by his groom. The Duke of Argyll declined all further intercourse with his sister-in-law, Mrs. Gunning, and his niece, Miss Gunning. The occurrence gave rise to several pamphlets.
     In this print Gillray depicts Miss Elizabeth Gunning consulting a female necromancer, and swearing an affidavit before her. "I swear that I never wished or tried, directly or indirectly, to get a coronet; that I never saw or wrote to Lord B. (the Marquis of Blandford) or Lord L (Marquis of Lorne) in all my life," &c. The old hag has a broom by her side, and other symbols of her art upon the table; she replies, "Well done, Bett! we'll get through the business, I'll warrant you. We can write all sorts of hands, we've got all sorts of seals, and with the assistance of our old friend under the table, we shall be able to gull them." The friend under the table is the devil. He exclaims, "Swear!" The groom is shadowed in the extreme left of the print. He says, "I'm ready to ride or swear." A sign-post points out the road to Blenheim. On the right hand of the print Mrs. Gunning is kindling a flame by blowing the fire with a pair of bellows, on which is inscribed, "Letter to the Duke of A." (Duke of Argyll), she says, "that's right, my sweet innocent angel! say grace boldly, make haste my dear little, lovely lambkin. I'll blow up the fire, while Nauntee Peg helps to cook up the coronets; we'll get you a nice little tit-bit for dinner before we've done my dear, little deary." Nauntee Peg (Miss Minifie) is stirring the pot upon the fire with a ladle, she says, "Puff away, sister. The soup will soon boil. Law's me, how soft the green peas do grow, and how they jump about in the pot when you puff your bellows." (Description from Wright, pp. 379-81. #377.)

#7983 "Margaret's Ghost"
Gillray, March 25th, 1791
     Miss Gunning, Mrs. Gunning, and Miss Margaret Minifie Mrs. Gunning was accused of having attempted to bring about a marriage of her daughter with the Marquis of Blandford, son of the duke of Marlborough, and the subject was much talked and written about in the fashionable world at this time.
     Gillray has laid the scene of this print in Miss Gunning's bedroom. Miss Gunning is lying ill in bed; her mother is seated by her bedside. Her aunt, Miss Margaret Minifie is introduced as "Margaret's Grimly Ghost;" her terrific appearance has struck consternation into the fair invalid, and frightened Mrs. Gunning from her propriety; by a sudden start she has overturned a bottle of brandy, placed by her side to soothe her sorrows. Mrs. Gunning says, "I was sitting by the bedside of my smiling-injured-innocent lambkin, and holding one of the sweet-tender hands of my amiable-gentle-dovelike cherub, when her aunt came into the room, with a face paler than ashes-'What is the matter, Auntee Peg," says my chaste, adorable, kind-beneficent-enchanting-heart-feeling-beneficent-paragon of goodness, "what's the matter, Auntee Peg, what makes you put on such a long face?" This absurd accumulation of foolish expressions of fondness is taken almost literally from passages in Mrs. Gunning's letter to the Duke of Argyll. Again, "He broke upon us the dishonourable-infamous-impudent-false accusations, and the cruel, most cruel messages that accompanied them, at that moment a vow issued from my torn, my rent, my wounded, my agonized, my suffered heart, and my dear, divine, glorious, arch-angelic angel said," &c. &c. This alludes to General Gunning's accusation of his daughter. (Description from Wright, p. 378-9. #376)
Gillray, March 25, 1791

# 7984 "Symptoms of Affection of a Specimen of Marital Prowee"
I. Cruikshank, March 25, 1791

#7985 "A Recent Dismission."
Bon Ton Magazine, 1 (1 April 1791): 5.

#7986 "Auntee Peg"
I. Cruikshank? March 29, 1791

#8163 "This is the House That Jack Built"
I. Cruikshank, Jan. 2, 1792

Susannah Gunning, Elizabeth Gunning and Minifie titles available in Corvey Collection

· Anecdotes of the Delborough Family [S] Gunning 3-628-45082-9
· Dangers Through Life [E] Gunning 48478-2
· The Farmer's Boy [E] Gunning 47582-1
· Fashionable Involvements [S] Gunning (not Elizabeth, as title on fiche and Corvey Catalogue list it. Kate and Kathy Jackson changed -in pencil-UNL's Corvey catalogue (in the microfilm room) and were working on alerting other powers that be about this error.)
· The Foresters [E] Gunning 45041-1
· The Gipsy Countess [E] Gunning 45042-X
· The Heir Apparent [S] Gunning 47584-6
· Lord Fitzhenry [E] Gunning 45044-6
· Love at First Sight [S] Gunning 45043-8
· Memoirs of Mary [S] Gunning 45048-9
· Orphans of Snowdon [S] Gunning 47581-3
· The Union [Minifie. S. Gunning?] 48167-8
· Victims of Seduction [E] Gunning 628-47549-X
· The War-Office [E] Gunning 47588-0

Note: Corvey Collection also has several novels by Lady Charlotte Bury.

Brief Annotated Bibliography - Gunning Sources

--Kushigian, Nancy and Stephen Behrendt, eds. Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period. (http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/SWRPLive/index.html) [In addition to much a good stuff, this site gives background on Lady Charlotte [Campbell] Bury - cousin of Elizabeth [Gunning] Plunkett.)
--George, Mary Dorothy. Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. v. 7 (1784-92). London: British Museum, 1938. [Contains list of Gunning caricatures.]
-- Perkins, Pam. "The Fictional Identities of Elizabeth Gunning." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, Vol 15 (1) (Spring, 1996), 83-98. [Explores various ways in which Elizabeth manipulates the familiar figure of the reluctant woman author. Perkins says that Elizabeth never used a pen name. Ward suggests otherwise: Catharine Lara.]
-- Sage, Lornea, The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English. Cambridge, 1999.
-- Shattock, Joanne, The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. 1993
-- Schlueter, Paul and June, eds. An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers. New York: Garland, 1988.
-- Todd, Janet, ed. British Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide. New York: Ungar, 1989.
-- Todd, Janet. The Sign of Angellica: Women, Writing and Fiction, 1660-1800. London: Virago: 1989. [Contains brief overview of some of the Gunning works.]
-- Ward, William S. Literary Reviews in British Periodicals. 4 volumes. [Entries listed under Minifie, and Gunning - and probably Bury?]
-- Williams, Carolyn, D. " General Tilney and Maidens all Forlorn: Typecasting in Northanger Abbey." Women's Writing. Vol. 1 (1998), 41-62. [Gives overview of Gunning scandal and argues that it forms part of cultural background for Northanger Abbey.]
-- Wright, Thomas, Esq. and R.H. Evans, Esq. Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray. Comprising a political and humorous history of the latter part of the reign of George the third. By Thomas Wright, esq. F.S.A. and R.H. Evans, Esq. London: 1851.

-- Prepared by Margaret Case Croskery, Ohio Northern University, July 2003