While Winston Churchill was imprisoned in Pretoria during the Boer War, he became well acquainted with Gunning, who was one of the directors of the prison.

He confided to me that the President had spoken most harshly to him in consequence and had peremptorily ordered the immediate return of the beast under threats of instant dismissal.Capt.

Aylmer Haldane, another prisoner in the facility had the following to say: In charge of us were two officials, one a Boer commandant, the other a Hollander gentleman, Dr Gunning, who at the same time discharged the double functions of manager of the Zoological Gardens and Curator of the Museum.

The commandant was not exactly a pattern of every virtue, but the doctor was uniformly courteous and did all that he could to make our confined existence as bearable as possible.On the death of his first wife, he married Ellen Elizabeth Dobbin (born 30 December 1867) of Bethulie on 19 November 1889.

The bird species Sheppardia gunningi, also called east coast akalat or Gunning's akelat, is named for him.