Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook
GILBERT, George Channing 1838–1913
GILBERT, George Channing 1838–1913
Born Northiam, Sussex, eldest son of the Baptist minister the Rev. Thomas Gilbert. The family came to New Zealand 1851 on the Simla; there was a riot on the barque which then had to put into Hobarton. Arrived New Plymouth October 1851 and farmed at Omata. John Gully later there encouraged the young Gilbert to paint. They removed to Nelson when hostilities broke out. George Gilbert, influenced by a neighbour, had pacifist beliefs and had gone ahead to Nelson so that he could not be called on to fight. Gully, a fellow refugee, taught and encouraged Gilbert and probably some time before Gilbert's marriage in 1872 Gully and Gilbert revisited Taranaki and painted together there.