Wilfrid Gibson (1878–1962) belongs to the number of Georgians whose works ‘pre-deceased’ them, a problem realized by the poet himself as early as 1940. Unlike Abercrombie and Drinkwater, he did not have a secondary career, and in times of hardship he was almost completely dependent on the income provided by the Brooke legacy granted to him in 1915. He was born in Hexham, the son of a town chemist, and little is known about his early life. However, his poor eyesight and delicate constitution suggest a childhood susceptible to illness, and his education at the hands of his half-sister Elizabeth indicates a child who was considered unsuitable for the rough and tumble environment of the school playground. He was not intended for college, and he seems to have settled on his vocation as a poet early on, with short diversions as a social worker in Glasgow (1907) and London. It is likely that his literary ambitions were encouraged by Elizabeth, herself a poet with a modest amount of success. She was published by Elkin Mathews, who became Gibson's publisher in 1902. His background was secure enough and wealthy enough for him to avoid all serious forms of professional training, and it is easy to imagine a bookish, overprotected young man growing up in a provincial middle-class environment with few of the early pressures that hounded Edward Thomas and John Drinkwater.

Gibson was, however, a sociable character; and his mild, clerkly demeanour went hand in hand with a genius for friendship and an open, good-humoured manner. People were drawn to him, and he was a generous and often hilarious correspondent. Hundreds of extant letters show his clear, wrily amused attitude towards life; and while his poetry may have fallen out of favour, Gibson the personality remained popular. His relations with the other ‘Dymock Poets’ were not always straightforward, but it is possible to build up a more accurate picture of his subdued but likeable character from the numerous correspondences which survive outside the Dymock enclave.

His career as a poet was assisted greatly by the inspiration provided by his wife, Geraldine Audrey Townshend, whom he married in 1913. She was a prime homemaker as well as a lively personality, and Gibson was besotted – any poem with the dedication ‘For G.’ or ‘To G.’ invariably means Geraldine.