Regency Personalities Series-Elizabeth Gunning 1st Baroness of Hamilton of Hameldon Duchess of Argyll

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Elizabeth Gunning 1st Baroness of Hamilton of Hameldon Duchess of Argyll
December 1733 – 20 December 1790

Elizabeth Gunning

Elizabeth Gunning 1st Baroness of Hamilton of Hameldon Duchess of Argyll was born 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.

Elizabeth was immortalized in portraits by, among others, artists Sir Joshua Reynolds and Gavin Hamilton .

In January 1752, Elizabeth met the Duke of Hamilton. According to Walpole, on 14 February (St. Valentine’s Day) at a party at Bedford House, the duke declared his desire to marry Elizabeth that night and he called for a local parson to perform the ceremony. However, without a license, calling of banns, and a ring, the parson refused. They were eventually married that night in Mayfair Chapel (which did not require a license) in a clandestine marriage, with a ring from a bed-curtain, whereupon Elizabeth became the Duchess of Hamilton.

When the duke died in 1758, she became engaged to the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, but the engagement was cancelled that year for reasons unknown. On 3 February the following year she married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne.

From 1761 to 1784, she was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte. Her husband later succeeded to his father’s title of Duke of Argyll in 1770, and Elizabeth became known as the Duchess of Argyll. On 20 May 1776, King George III, a long time admirer of hers, created her Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon in her own right.

She had three children from her first marriage with the Duke of Hamilton:

• Lady Elizabeth Hamilton (26 January 1753 – 14 March 1797), married Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby
• James Douglas-Hamilton, 7th Duke of Hamilton (18 February 1755 – 7 July 1769)
• Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton (24 July 1756 – 2 August 1799)

She had five children from her second marriage with the Duke of Argyll:

• Lady Augusta Campbell
• George John Campbell, Earl of Campbell (1763–1764)
• George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll (1768–1839)
• Lady Charlotte Campbell(1775–1861)
• John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll (1777–1847)

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Regency Personalities Series-Duke of Argyll George William Campbell

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Duke of Argyll George William Campbell
22 September 1768 – 22 October 1839

George William Campbell

Argyll was the eldest son of John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll and his wife, Elizabeth Campbell, 1st Baroness Hamilton, daughter of Colonel John Gunning. He was known as Marquis of Lorn until his father’s death.

Argyll sat as Member of Parliament for St Germans from 1790 to 1796. In 1806 he succeeded his father in the dukedom and entered the House of Lords. He was Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland from 1827 to 1828 and again from 1830 and 1839.

In 1833 he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Lord Steward of the Household in the Whig administration headed by Lord Grey, a position he retained when Lord Melbourne became prime minister in July 1834. The Wgigs fell from power in November 1834 but returned to office already in April 1835, when Argyll once again became Lord Steward under Melbourne. He continued in the post until his death in 1839. Argyll was also Lord-Lieutenant of Argyllshire from 1799 to 1839.

Cromwell had damaged the ancient family seat of Castle Campbell that overlooked Dollar in Clackmannanshire. George sold the land and buildings. He was a member of the British Fishing Society, White’s Club and a loyal companion of Beau Brummell.

Argyll married Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, at Edinburgh, on 29 November 1810. This was three weeks after she had divorced Henry Paget, Lord Uxbridge, the future Marquis of Anglesey. They had no children. He died in October 1839, aged 71 at the family estate Inveraray Castle, Argyllshire, and was buried on 10 November 1839 at Kilmun, Cowal. His brother, Lord John Campbell, succeeded to his titles.

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Regency Personalities Series-Lady Charlotte Bury

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Lady Charlotte Bury
19 March 1739 – 3 August 1807

Charlotte Susan Maria Campbell

Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Campbell was the daughter and the youngest child of Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll and Elizabeth Campbell, 1st Baroness Hamilton, second daughter of John Gunning, of Castle Coote, County Roscommon, and widow of James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton. She was born at Argyll House, Oxford Street, London. In her youth she was remarkable for her personal beauty, and the charm of her manners rendered her one of the most popular persons in society, while the sweetness and excellence of her character endeared her more especially to those who knew her in the intimacy of private life. She was always distinguished by her passion for the belles-lettres, and was accustomed to do the honours of Scotland to the literary celebrities of the day. It was at one of her parties that Sir Walter Scott became personally acquainted with Monk Lewis. When aged twenty-two she produced a volume of poems, to which, however, she did not affix her name.

She married on 14 June 1796 Colonel John Campbell (eldest son of Walter Campbell of Schawfield, by his first wife Eleanora Kerr), who, at the time of his decease in Edinburgh on 15 March 1809, was Member of Parliament for the Ayr Burghs. By this marriage she had nine children, of whom, however, only two survived her, Lady A. Lennox and Mrs. William Russell. Lady Charlotte Campbell married secondly, on 17 March 1818, the Reverend Edward John Bury (only son of Edward Bury of Taunton); they had two daughters. Bury received from University College, Oxford, his B.A. in 1811 and M.A. 1817. He assumed the position of rector in Litchfield, Hampshire, in 1814 and died at Ardenample Castle, Dumbartonshire, in May 1832, aged 42.

After Lady Charlotte had been widowed in 1809 she had been appointed Lady-in-Waiting in the household of the Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline, when it is believed that she kept a diary, in which she recorded the foibles and failings of the unfortunate princess and other members of the court.

After her marriage with Bury she was the author of various contributions to light literature; some of her novels were very popular, although now almost forgotten. When the Diary illustrative of the Times of George IV appeared in two volumes in 1838, it was thought to bear evidence of a familiarity with the scenes depicted which could only be attributed to Lady Charlotte. It was reviewed with much severity, and attributed to her ladyship by both the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews. The volumes, however, sold rapidly, and several editions were disposed of in a few weeks. The charge of the authorship was not at the time denied, and as no one has since arisen claiming to have written the diary the public libraries now catalogue the work under Lady Charlotte’s name. Volume 3 of the Diary was discovered by William Michael Rossetti to contain an encounter with William Blake; a rare description of the poet and artist from a contemporary.

Lady Charlotte died at 91 Sloane Street, Chelsea, on 31 March 1861. The once celebrated beauty, the delight of the highest circles of London society, was curiously described in her death certificate at Somerset House as “daughter of a duke and wife of the Rev. E. J. Bury, holding no benefice.

Her works:

1. Poems on several Occasions, by a Lady 1797
2. Alla Giornata, or To the Day anonymous, 1826
3. Flirtation anonymous, 1828, which went to three editions
4. Separation by the author of Flirtation, 1830
5. A Marriage in High Life edited by the author of Flirtation, 1828
6. Journal of the Heart edited by the author of Flirtation, 1830
7. The Disinherited and the Ensnared anonymous, 1834
8. Journal of the Heart second series, edited by the author of Flirtation, 1835
9. The Devoted by the author of The Disinherited, 1836
10. Love anonymous, 1837; second edition 1860
11. Memoirs of a Peeress, or the days of Fox by Mrs. C. F. Gore, edited by Lady C. Bury, 1837
12. The Three Great Sanctuaries of Tuscany: Valambrosa, Camaldoli, Lavernas a poem historical and legendary, with engravings from drawings by the Rev. E. Bury, 1833
13. Ellen Glanville by a Lady of Rank, 1838, 2 vols
14. Diary illustrative of the Times of George the Fourth anonymous, 1838, 2 vols
15. The Divorced by Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1837; another edition 1858
16. ” The Diary Of A Flirt. Related By Herself” anonymous 1841 (London) 3 vols.; 1841 (Phila.) 2 vols.
17. Family Records, or the Two Sisters by Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1841
18. The Two Baronets a novel of fashionable life, by the late Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1864.

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Regency Personalities Series-John Campbell 5th Duke of Argyll

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

John Campbell 5th Duke of Argyll
June 1723 – 24 May 1806

John Campbell

John Campbell 5th Duke of Argyll

Campbell rose to the ranks of Field Marshal in the Royal Army. He was styled Marquess of Lorne from 1761 to 1770.

Born the son of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll and Mary Bellenden, the daughter of John Bellenden, 2nd Lord Bellenden of Broughton, Campbell was commissioned into the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1744 (DWW-when he was 21.) He served in the response to the Jacobite Rebellion at the Battle of Falkirk and the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

In 1749 he became Commanding Officer of the 42nd Regiment of Foot serving in Ireland. (DWW-After 5 years in the army-its who you know.)

He became a member of Parliament and was made a field marshal on 30 July 1796. (DWW-When he was 73)

Elizabeth Gunning, 1 Baroness of Hamilton of Hameldon

In 1759 he married Elizabeth, Dowager Duchess of Hamilton. They lived in Inveraray Castle, and had issue:

1. Lady Augusta Campbell
2. George John Campbell, Earl of Campbell
3. George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll
4. Lady Charlotte Campbell
5. John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll

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