Britain Unlimited covers 250 Great British people and what made them famous

Who was W.S. Gilbert? Librettist and Poet. Date and Place of Birth: 18th November 1836, 17 Southampton Street, London, England. Christened William Schwenck Gilbert. Family Background: Son of William Gilbert a retired naval surgeon and Anne Gilbert. Also had three daughters. Education: Great Ealing School, London. Kings College, London. Chronology: 1849: Returned to London after many years traveling Europe with his family. 1863: Production of his first play "Uncle Baby" at the Royal Lyceum Theatre. 1867: Became a Clerk in the Privy Council Office in London. 1864: Called to the bar,but was unsuccessful in landing well paid briefs and supplemented his income by writing for magazines such as "Punch" and "Fun". His humorous verse was published under the pseudonym "Bab". 1866: Writes a Christmas show called "Dulcemara or the Little Duck and the Great Quack". 1869: Publication of the "Bab Ballads" as a book. Performance of his last comic burlesque "The Pretty Druidess". 1870: Met Arthur Sullivan for first time. Wrote "The Palace of Truth" which was his first stage hit. 1871: Wrote "Pygmalion and Galatea" for the stage. 1873: Collaborated with Gilbert a Beckett on a political satire called "The Happy Land". This was briefly banned because of its caricatures of Gladstone. 1875: First performance of "Trial by Jury" with music by Arthur Sullivan, staged at the Opera Comique. Collection of his stage plays published by Chatto and Windus. 1876: Richard D'Oyly Carte formed his comic opera company. Split between his parents. 1877: Building of the Savoy Theatre by D'Oyly Carte which was to make the joint works of Gilbert and Sullivan famous. First performance of "The Sorcerer". 1878: First performance of HMS Pinafore. 1880: First performance of "The Pirates of Penzance". 1881: First performance of "Patience" a satire about Oscar Wilde and his circle. 1882: First performance of "Iolanthe". 1885: First performance of "The Mikado". 1887: First performance of "Ruddigore". 1888: First performance of "The Yeoman of the Guard". 1889: First performance of "The Gondoliers". 1890: Quarreled with Arthur Sullivan, supposedly about the style of carpet and its cost in the Savoy Theatre. 1893: The rift between Gilbert and Sullivan was temporarily halted. 1896: First performance of "The Grand Duke". 1900: Death of Sir Arthur Sullivan. 1907: Knighted. 1909: After the death of Sullivan Gilbert tried to form a partnership with the composer Edward German who had finished some of his musical pieces but their work "Fallen Fairies" was not a success. 1911: His last play "The Hooligan" was a powerful short dramatic sketch which shocked the audience in its attention to reality. Major Compositions: 1869: "The Bab Ballads". 1873: "More Bab Ballads." 1871: "Thespis or the God's Thrown Out." 1875: "Trial by Jury". For Richard D'Oyly Carte. (first Collaboration with Sullivan). 1877: "The Sorcerer" 1878: "HMS Pinafore". 1879: "The Pirates of Penzance." 1881: "Patience or Bunthorne's Bride". 1882: Iolanthe or the Peer and the Peri." 1884: Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant". 1885: "The Mikado or the Town of Titipu". 1887: "Ruddigore, or the Witch's Curse". 1888: "The Yeoman of the Guard". 1889: "The Gondoliers". 1893: "Utopia Limited". 1896: "The Grand Duke". 1898: "Songs of a Savoyard". 1909: "Fallen Fairies, or the wicked World." (Music by Edward German). 1911: "The Hooligan". (Play). Marriage: 6th August 1867 to Lucy Agnes Turner. Places of Interest: LONDON: The Savoy Theatre, The Strand. Monument plaque to him in a wall on the riverside of the road at the Embankment. Date and Place of Death: 29th May 1911, Grim's Dyke, Harrow Weald, Middlesex, England due to a heart attack brought on by rescuing a woman from drowning in a lake on his country estate. Age at Death: 74. Site of Grave: Ashes at St. John the Evangelist Church, Great Stanmore, London, England.