GILBERT 



3527 



GILBERT 



Proclaimed a protectorate in 

 1892, they were annexed by Great 

 Britain, at the request of the 

 natives, on Nov. 10, 1915, and now 

 form part of the Gilbert and El lice 

 Island Colony. The islands are ad- 

 ministered by a resident commis- 

 sioner, who is responsible to the 

 high commissioner for the Pacific. 

 Pop. 26,417 natives ; 446 foreigners. 

 Gilbert (c. 1110-89). English 

 saint and founder of the Gilbcrtines. 

 He was born at Sempringham, Lin- 

 colnshire, of which he became 

 rector, and where he founded his 

 Order in 1135. He was imprisoned 

 on a false charge of sending help to 

 S. Thomas Becket when in exile. 

 He died at Sempringham, and was 

 canonised by Pope Innocent III. 

 See Gilbertines. 



Gilbert, ALFRED (b. 1854). Brit- 

 ish sculptor. Born in London, 

 1854, he studied at 

 Heatherley's 

 School of Art, 

 working for a 

 year in J. E. 

 Boehm's stu- 

 dio, and at the 

 E c o 1 e d e s 

 Beaux Arts 

 under Caval- 

 lier. In 1882 

 he exhibited 

 at the Royal 

 Academy h i s 

 first serious composition, The Kiss 

 of Victory. Proceeding to Rome, 

 where he fell under the influence 

 of the Italian Renaissance, he pro- 

 duced Perseus Arming. This was 

 followed by Icarus, 1884, The En- 

 chanted Chair, 1886, the Shaftes- 

 bury Fountain in Piccadilly Circus, 

 Comedy and Tragedy, 1892, the 

 Duke of Clarence Memorial at 

 Windsor, statues of Queen Victoria 

 at Winchester, and of John Bright 

 at Westminster, and many busts. 

 He was chosen R.A. in 1892, and 

 retired in 1909. He was professor 

 of sculpture at the Academy, 1900- 

 9. His early work was distinguished 

 by Grecian simplicity and grace, 

 but became more decorative. 



Gilbert, SIR HUMPHREY (c. 

 1539-83). English navigator. Born 

 at Dartmouth, he was educated at 

 Eton and Ox- 

 ford, and stud- 

 ied navigation 

 and m a t h e- 

 matics. In 1563 

 he fought 

 against the 

 French at 

 Havre and in 

 1566 took part 

 in the opera- 

 tions in Ire- 

 land, being 

 of the prov. of 



Alfred Gilbert, 

 British sculptor 



Elliott & Fry 



and M.P. for Plymouth in 1571, he 

 was sent the following year to the 

 Netherlands,where he failed against 

 the Spaniards. 



After this failure he retired to 

 his house in Limehouse, where he 

 mostly resided, until 1583, when 

 with two vessels he sailed to New- 

 foundland, landed at St. John's, and 

 founded the first English colony in 

 America. He insisted on setting 

 out on the return voyage aboard 

 the smaller of his two vessels, the 

 Squirrel, a frigate of only 10 tons. 

 The little craft foundered off the 

 Azores with all hands, Sept. 9, 1583. 



m 



Sir Humphrey 



Gilbert, 

 English navigator 



given command 



Munster in 1 569. Knighted in 1 570 



Alfred Gilbert. His beautiful statue 



of Icarus, exhibited at the Royal 



Academy, 1884 



Fred. Hollyer 



Gilbert, SIR JOHN (1817-97). 

 British painter and illustrator. 

 Born at Blackheath, July 21, 1817, 

 he entered a city office. Finding 

 the life intolerable, after two years 

 he abandoned business for art. He 

 was almost entirely self-taught. 

 From 1836 onwards he exhibited 

 at the British Institution, Royal 

 Academy, and other galleries, 

 although between 1851 and 1867 

 he only showed at the Academy a 



solitary picture (1867). His real 

 metier was the illustration of books 

 and periodicals, in which he dis- 

 played an astonishing fecundity 

 and versatility. 

 H i s drawings 

 (829 in all) for 

 Howard Staun- 

 ton's edition of 

 Shakespeare 

 (1856-60) be- 

 came deserved- 

 ly famous, and 

 a complete set 

 of the proofs 

 found an ap- 

 propriate 



home in the '- 



print-room of the British Museum. 

 Sir Walter Scott and Cervantes he 

 also illustrated with extreme feli- 

 city, and for nearly thirty years 

 he was the mainstay of The Illus- 

 trated London News. 



In 1852 he became associate and 

 in 1854 full member of the Royal 

 Society of Painters in Watercolour, 

 being elected its president in 1871, 

 when he received a knighthood. 

 He was elected A.R.A. in 1872, 

 and R.A. in 1876. His preference 

 of subjects was still governed by 

 his old relish for literature and 

 history, among his best works in 

 oils being King Charles Leaving 

 Westminster Hall (1872), Naseby 

 (1873), Richard II Resigning the 

 Crown to Bolingbroke (1876), and 

 The Doge and Senators of Venice. 

 Sir John is exceptionally well re- 

 presented in the Guildhall Gallery, 

 London, and was presented with 

 the freedom of the City. He died 

 at Blackheath, Oct. 5, 1897. See 

 Agincourt; Charles I. 



Gilbert, SIR JOSEPH HENRY 

 (1817-1901). British chemist. Born 

 at Hull, Aug. 1, 1817, he studied 

 chemistry at London and then 

 under Liebig at Giessen. From 1843 

 until his death he was director of 

 Rothamsted Laboratory in col- 

 laboration with Sir J. B. Lawes. He 

 was elected F.R.S. in 1860, and was 

 knighted in 1893, on the jubilee 

 of the Rothamsted experiments. 

 These covered a large and im- 

 portant field of research. Gilbert 

 died Dec. 13, 1901. 



Gilbert, MARIE DOLORES ELIZA 

 ROSANNA (1818-61). Irish dancer, 

 better known by her stage name of 

 Lola Montez (q.v.). 



Gilbert, SIR WILLIAM SCHWENK 

 (1836-1911). British dramatist. 

 Born in London, Nov. 18, 1836, he 

 was educated at London Univer- 

 sity. From 1857-61 he was a clerk 

 in the education department of 

 the privy council office, and in 1863 

 was called to the bar. From 1861- 

 7 1 he contributed articles and draw- 

 ings to Fun, in which his Bab 

 Ballads, 1869 and 1873, appeared, 



