Susannah Minifie Gunning, the daughter of a Somerset Clergyman, was born in 1739 or 1740. She had at least one sister, Margaret, with whom she published two novels, The History of Lady Frances S. and Lady Caroline S. (1763) and The Picture (1766); both are typical of the sentimental fiction of the 1760s and 70s, filled with melodrama, high emotion, and lengthy declarations of fine feeling. Aside from the fact that she published these novels, along with several others written on her own, almost nothing is known about Susannah Minifie before her 1768 marriage to John Gunning, an officer in the British army. Nor is anything known about her early married life. John Gunning fought in the American Revolution and achieved some dis

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First published 17 July 2001

Citation: Perkins, Pam. "Susannah Gunning". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 July 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1915, accessed 9 February 2010.]