William Gilbert

Who was William Gilbert?

William Gilbert was a South Australian pastoralist and vigneron.

He was born the only son of Joseph Gilbert of Pewsey Vale near Lyndoch and his wife Anna née Browne. He was educated at St. Peter's College, and in 1864 enrolled with Cambridge University.

In 1872 he helped young Ted Bagot and his foster-brother James Churchill-Smith drove 1,000 head of cattle from Adelaide to the MacDonnell Ranges where Joseph Chambers had acquired three leases centred on Owen Springs and Edward Meade Bagot another two, on Emily Gap and Undoolya Station; recognised as one of the great droving feats of Australian pastoral history. He took up management of Owen Springs station in 1873 and in 1875 was managing of all his father's properties.

When his father died he disposed of Owen Springs, the freehold of 32,000 acres at Mount Bryan, and the Oriecowe run on Yorke Peninsula in order to concentrate on stock improvement at Pewsey Vale. It was not long before his wool was fetching record prices. He had considerable success with wines also, though according to one source, he treated winemaking more as a hobby than a business.