William Gilbert (author) - Life and Career

Life and Career

Gilbert was born at Bishopstoke, Hampshire, the eldest son of William, a grocer in Commercial Row, Blackfriars, London, and Sarah. His father died at the age of 32 when young William was seven years old, and thereafter, he and his younger siblings, Joseph and Jane, were raised in London by their mother's sister and her husband, Mary and John Samuel Schwenck.

Gilbert served the East India Company as a midshipman from 1818 to 1821 but was unhappy with the conditions and so quit the service. He then spent several years in Italy, returning to England about 1825. There he studied at Guy's Hospital and then entered the Royal College of Surgeons in 1830. He was an assistant surgeon in the navy for several years but left when he received an annuity from his father's estate. He first married Mary Ann Skelton in 1832, who died two years later, and then Anne Morris on 14 February 1836. The couple's famous son, W.S. Gilbert, was born on 18 November 1836. The Gilberts continued to travel in Europe, finally settling down in London in 1849. Even though Gilbert and his wife later had a troubled relationship, they produced, after W.S. Gilbert, three more children, Jane, Maude and Florence.