Walter Gilbey

Sir Walter Gilbey, 1st Baronet, (2 May 1831 – 12 November 1914) was an English wine-merchant, horse-breeder, author, and philanthropist.

Early life Gilbey was born at 11, Windhill, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire to Henry Gilbey (1789–1842) and Elizabeth (died 1869), a daughter of William Bailey, of Stansted Mountfichet, Essex. Henry Gilbey, of Essex farming stock, had gone into innkeeping at Stansted, becoming landlord of the Bell Inn, but after the economic depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars he had to seek other employment. Settling at Bishop's Stortford, he established a successful daily coach service travelling to and from London, often driving himself. The arrival of the railway put an end to this business, and Henry returned to his former occupation as landlord of the Red Lion Inn at Hockerill. He died after only a short time, when Walter was eleven years old, leaving his widow and seven children with limited means. Walter Gilbey was shortly placed in the office of an estate agent at Tring, later obtaining a clerkship in a firm of parliamentary agents in London.

On the outbreak of the Crimean War, Walter and his younger brother Alfred (grandfather of the cleric Alfred Newman Gilbey) volunteered for civilian service at the front, and were employed at a convalescent hospital on the Dardanelles. Returning to London on the declaration of peace, the pair took the advice of their eldest brother Henry, a wholesale wine-merchant, and started in the retail wine and spirits trade. He became president of the Shire Horse Society, of the Hackney Horse Society, and of the Hunters' Improvement Society, and he was the founder and chairman of the London Cart Horse Parade Society. He was also a practical agriculturist, and president of the Royal Agricultural Society.

Philanthropy

Gilbey paid for the first two of five almshouses, "King's Cottages", erected in the early 20th century in Bishop's Stortford. Other contributors to the project included Admiral Frederick Samuel Vander-Meulen, in memory of his brother Colonel John Harrison Vander-Muelen.

Personal life On 3 November 1858, Gilbey married Ellen Parish, fourth daughter of John Parish, of Bishop's Stortford. They were the parents of ten children: Charles Herbert Gilbey (1858–1876) Henry Walter Gilbey (1860–1945) Arthur Nockolds Gilbey (1861–1939) Tresham Gilbey (1862–1947) Sebastian Gilbey (1863–1880) Maud Ellen Gilbey (1865–1951) Mabel Kate Gilbey (1866–1945) Guy Gilbey (1868–1930) Rose Gilbey (1870, died young) Emily Lucy Gilbey (1872–1938)

Mrs Gilbey died on 16 November 1896. Gilbey was created a baronet on 4 September 1898. His son Henry Walter Gilbey succeeded him as the second baronet in 1914.

The wine critic Tom Gilbey, is a descendant of Walter Gilbey.

Selected works The Great Horse, or The War Horse: from the time of the Roman Invasion till its development into the Shire Horse. (London: Vinton & Co.. 1899) Animal Painters of England From the Year 1650: A brief history of their lives and works (London: Vinton & Co., 1900) Ponies, Past and Present (London: Vinton & Co. 1900) Early Carriages and Roads (London: Vinton & Co., 1903) Modern Carriages (London: Vinton & Co., 1905) George Morland: His life and works (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1907)