Peter Cunningham FSA

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

 (1816–1869) was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 writer, son of Allan Cunningham and his wife Jean (née Walker, 1791–1866). Cunningham published several topographical

Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 and biographical studies, of which the most important are his Handbook of London (1849) and The Life of Drummond of Hawthornden (1833).

In 1851 Peter Cunningham appeared in an amateur production of a play "Not So Bad As We Seem" by Lord Lytton along with Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

, Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...

, Mark Lemon

Mark Lemon

Mark Lemon was founding editor of both Punch and The Field.-Biography:Lemon was born in London on the 30 November 1809. He was the son of Martin Lemon, a hop merchant, and Alice Collis. His parents married on 26 December 1808 at St Mary, Marylebone, London...

, John Tenniel

John Tenniel

Sir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...

, Douglas Jerrold and others.

Family

Cunningham married Zenobia Martin (1816–1901), and they had three children Edith, Norah, and Walter Cunningham (1850–1936).