Early Life
Gilligan was born in Denmark Hill, an area of Camberwell in London. He was the second of three sons, all of whom played first-class cricket, to Willie Austin Gilligan and Alice Eliza Kimpton. The family had a strong connection with Sussex; Gilligan followed Sussex County Cricket Club as a child, and later played club cricket there. After attending Fairfield School, he joined Dulwich College in 1906 and remained there until 1914. He established a sporting reputation in athletics and cricket. In the latter sport, he played in the school first eleven, as did his brothers; in 1913, all three boys played in the team. Gilligan played in the eleven between 1911 and 1914 and captained the side in his final two years. In 1914, he came top of the school batting and bowling averages. Selected to play representative schools cricket at Lord's Cricket Ground in 1914, he took ten wickets in total and scored one fifty in the two matches. By the standards of school cricket, his pace was impressive, and Surrey invited him to play for their second eleven during the school holidays of 1913 and 1914; his father was a member of that county's committee, and Gilligan qualified to play through his London birth.
In 1914, Gilligan entered Pembroke College, Cambridge, but his life at the university was interrupted by the First World War. He fought in France with the Lancashire Fusiliers from 1915, serving as Captain in the 11th battalion. When the war ended, Gilligan returned to Pembroke and resumed his cricket career.
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