1836 Born in London
1859 joins Civil Service Rifles, then West Yorks militia because of war in Crimea and danger of a French invasion.
1861 £300 inheritance enables him to leave Education Department and be called to the Bar
1865 Was left £500 (equivalent of £80,000 in present value) and two houses and stocks and shares by his aunt. Private income of around £300 a year.
1865 transfers to Aberdeen militia
1867 February – The Theatrical Lounger reviews the Matsui Gensui troupe in London for the Illustrated Times
1867 July – end of Great Dragon Troupe tour of United States. E.J. Baldwin claims to have sold his contract with the Great Dragon Troupe to W.S. Gilbert.
1867 August – Gilbert marries Lucy Agnes Blois Turner
1867 August-October – combined Great Dragon Troupe in Britain
1868 January – Gilbert’s La Vivandiere reviewed in Illustrated Times
1868 February – He reviews for the Illustrated Times as The Theatrical Lounger on a trip to Paris
1868 April – review by the Theatrical Lounger (is it W.S. Gilbert or T.W. Robertson?) of Imperial Troupe in London “The Japanese conjurors and acrobats are certainly clever, but I do not think that they surpass their Whitechapel rivals so completely to justify their entrepreneur in expecting make his fortune by them. They are certainly more expert than the clumsy impostors who appeared at St. Martin’s Hall some months since.” (Whitechapel rivals is probably a reference to the (not Japanese) acrobats appearing at the Wilton Music Hall or Pavilion Theatre)
1868 May – The Theatrical Lounger receives a letter from Mr Prior protesting about his and Mr Grant’s troupe being called an imposter, saying the ladies were the first to have left Japan, before Risley’s troupe. The Theatrical Lounger says he meant they were not as remarkably talented as they claimed.
1868 August – Gilbert takes a break from reviewing for Illustrated Times to spend a fortnight in Boulogne
1868 December – new play Robert the Devil
1869 May – Great Dragon Troupe (mostly Baldwin & Gilbert group) appear in Britain, then tour Europe
1871 TW Robertson dies
1871 Initiated into St Machar, Aberdeen lodge of Freemasons
early 1870s Gilbert continued to review for Illustrated Times
1876 transfers to Bayard Lodge
1884 May – comes up with plot of The Mikado – was not originally set in Japan.
1885 January – Tannaker’s Japanese Village opens
1885 March – premier of The Mikado
Ninjin 