W.S. Gilbert’s Family History…Look, a Squirrel!

What was Sir William Gilbert’s family background? Was he a descendant of a distinguished and noble family line that included the Elizabethan navigator, Sir Humphrey Gilbert? Or was he the descendant of a Hampshire yeoman who moved to London and found prosperity through his corner grocery store?

During his life, W. S. Gilbert’s family legend was that the original Gilberts came from Cornwall. The most notable member of the family was Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583) who was Sir Walter Raleigh’s half-brother (they had the same mother, Catherine Champernowne). Sir Humphrey was an adventurer, explorer, member of parliament, a soldier serving under the reign of Queen Elizabeth and a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America and the Plantations of Ireland.

The relationship to Sir William Raleigh’s half-brother was also strengthened by the description of Sir Humphrey Gilbert as a man ‘of higher stature than of the common sort, and of complexion cholerike’.  Naturally, that sounded very much like W.S. Gilbert himself, who was also a tall man well known for his hot temper.

And so, Gilbert adopted the Gilbert family crest, described as: ‘Argent, on a chevron sable, three roses argent. Crest, on a wreath of the colours, a squirrel sejant erect gules, holding a nut. Motto: Mallem Mori Quam Mutare’   (Death rather than change)

Personally, I adore the crest with its red squirrel holding a nut. I’d be totally in favor of a family heritage that included such a brilliant element in its heraldry.

But alas, a legend is all that was – according to biographer Michael Ainger, who wrote Gilbert and Sullivan: A Dual Biography, Gilbert was actually descended from a family of Hampshire yeomen.  His great-grandfather, also William Gilbert, born in 1746, and after serving his apprenticeship to a shopkeeper set out for London to make his fortune. He established a grocery shop in Westminster. He prospered, had many sons, and eventually retired a wealthy man. His son took over the family business and by the time W.S. Gilbert’s father was born, the connection to trade had been superseded and Gilbert’s father was able to consider himself a “gentleman.”

For further reading, check out this essay on Gilbert’s genealogy at the Gilbert & Sullivan Archive.

Family ties were very important to the Victorians, and Gilbert was not unusual in his desire to connect himself with a long and distinguished lineage. Nowadays, especially among Americans, a family background is not considered as essential to an individual’s success.

What about you? Have you ever researched your own family history? Do you value your heritage? Tell me about it in the comments!