John Gunning left Ireland for England with his wife, daughter of Lord Bourke of County Mayo, and settled in Hemingford Grey. He had four daughters, Mary and Elizabeth becoming the belles of Europe, perfect in face and figure. Known as ‘The Beautiful Miss Gunnings’, William Cowper the poet was living in Huntingdon when he chanced upon them, he was walking with his dog along the river bank where he was inspired to write
Two nymphs adorned with every grace That spaniel found for me.News of their beauty soon reached London and in 1751 they left Hemingford, Elizabeth was 17 and Mary slightly older, both were wooed and eventually their hearts were won. Mary married the 6th Earl of Coventry who had recently had the house and grounds, Croome, built by Capability Brown; she was happily married for 18 years when she sadly died of consumption.
Elizabeth married the 6th Duke of Hamilton bearing him three children, her daughter married and became the Countess of Derby, and her two sons in succession became the Duke of Hamilton. She was widowed at 24, but the following year married the Duke of Argyll, becoming the mother of two further dukes of the realm. She became Baroness Hamilton of Hambleton in her own right, and spent most of her later life at court. Gunning Way in the village is a tribute to the beautiful sisters.
