Elizabeth Gunning (writer)

Elizabeth Gunning (13 June 1769 – 20 July 1823) was an English novelist and translator of French, who also published under her married name Elizabeth Plunkett.

In the 1790s, Gunning was the subject of a pamphlet war related to a rumoured relationship with Lord Blandford. She and her mother were accused of forging a series of letters, purportedly by Blandford and his father the duke of Marlborough, which were published as evidence that Blandford had proposed marriage to Gunning. Gunning was ejected from her father's household, and briefly moved to France with her mother to avoid repercussions from the scandal.

Afterward, Gunning followed in the footsteps of her mother, the novelist Susannah Gunning, with a prolific writing career. She published thirteen works of fiction and six translations between 1794 and 1815. Her first two works were novels of sensibility, after which she also wrote Gothic novels and books for children. Gunning married James Plunkett, an Irish military officer, in 1803 and had four sons. She continued publishing with both "Mrs. Plunkett" and "Miss Gunning" on the title page of her works. She died in 1823.