Gunning, Maria (1733–1760)

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Gunning, Maria (1733–1760)

Countess of Coventry. Name variations: Maria, Countess of Coventry. Born in 1733; died on October 1, 1760; daughter of John Gunning of Castle Coote, County Roscommon, Ireland, a poor Irish squire; sister of Elizabeth Gunning (1734–1790); married George William, 6th earl of Coventry, in 1752.

Maria Gunning and her sister Elizabeth Gunning went to London in 1751 and were at once pronounced "the handsomest women alive." They were followed by crowds wherever they went, and Maria, who was considered the better looking by those who deigned to compare, was mobbed one evening in Hyde Park. The king, George II, gave her a guard to protect her, and she once walked in the park for two hours with two sergeants of the guard before her and twelve soldiers following. In 1752, she married George William, 6th earl of Coventry. "The beautiful Misses Gunning" were painted a number of times, and there are many engravings of these portraits in existence.

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Gunning, Maria (1733–1760)

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