English writer
Born 1837 Died 1891
The eldest son of Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, Gilbert Arthur was born at Hammersmith on the 7th of April 1837. He went up to Christ Church, Oxford, as a Westminster scholar in 1855, graduating in 1860. He was entered at Lincoln's Inn, but gave his attention chiefly to the drama, producing Diamonds and Hearts at the Haymarket in 1867, which was followed by other light comedies.
His pieces include numerous burlesques and pantomimes, the libretti of Savonarola (Hamburg, 1884) and of The Canterbury Pilgrims (Drury Lane, 1884) for the music of Dr (afterwards Sir) C. V. Stanford. The Happy Land (Court Theatre, 1873), a political burlesque of W. S. Gilbert's Wicked World, was written in collaboration with F. L. Tomline. For the last ten years of his life he was on the regular staff of Punch. His health was seriously affected in 1889 by the death of his only son, and he died on the 15th of October 1891.
Extracted from the entry for A BECKETT, GILBERT ABBOTT in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, the text of which lies within the public domain. The original text begins "His eldest son Gilbert Arthur a Beckett"; has been amended to "The eldest son of Gilbert Abbott a Beckett, Gilbert Arthur".