Sir William Schwenck Gilbert - The Strand

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert born 18 November 1836 was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and HMS Pinafore. 

On 29 May 1911, Gilbert was giving a swimming lesson to two local girls, Winifred Isabel Emery and 17-year-old Ruby Preece in the lake of his home, Grim's Dyke, when Preece lost her footing and called for help. Gilbert dived in to save her, but suffered a heart attack in the middle of the lake and died. He was cremated at Golders Green and his ashes buried at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Stanmore