• Gilbert Blythe •

Birth Name: Gilbert Blythe

Date of Birth: 1862

Birth Location: Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Parents: John and Mrs. Blythe

Spouse: Anne Shirley

Children: Joyce 'Joy', James Matthew 'Jem', Anne 'Nan', Diana 'Di', Walter Cuthbert, Shirley, Bertha Marilla 'Rilla'

Location: Avonlea, Four Winds (House of Dreams), Glen St. Mary (Ingleside)

Hair colour: Brown

Eye colour: Hazel

Occupation: Doctor

In Books: Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), Anne's House of Dreams (1917), Anne of Ingleside (1939), Rainbow Valley (1919), Rilla of Ingleside (1920), Chronicles of Avonlea (1912), Further Chronicles of Avonlea (1920)

Quote: "You'll have Gilbert in your class after this," said Diana, "and he's used to being head of his class, I can tell you. He's only in the fourth book although he's nearly fourteen. Four years ago his father was sick and had to go out to Alberta for his health and Gilbert went with him. They were there three years and Gil didn't go to school hardly any until they came back. You won't find it so easy to keep head after this, Anne." (Chapter 15, Anne of Green Gables)

Background: Gilbert Blythe got off with the wrong foot with Anne Shirley. It turns out calling a girl "Carrots!" when she already hates her hair colour isn't the smoothest way to get her attention. For this bad move, Gilbert remained the much despised rival of Anne, who was neck-to-neck in grades with the fellow. Two years after meeting Anne, he saves her life in the Lake of Shining Waters in 1878. They both win first place in their entrance exams to Queen's Academy, in which he ultimatey wins the gold medal at the end of the schoolyear. This settles his teaching position in September of 1881. Two years later, he attends Redmond College, and proposes to Anne another couple of years later for the first time. His proposal ends in rejection, and he becomes a friend of Christine Stuart, which prompts rumours at the wedding of Diana and Fred Wright, where he is the best man. In 1887, Gilbert graduates from Redmond, receiving the Cooper Prize and High Honours in Classics. During that summer, he contracts typhoid and is seriously ill. His near death experience makes Anne realize her love for him and she accepts to his proposal in that September. Gilbert continues his studies at Redmond, this time concentrating on medicine. He graduates three years later and they marry. The Blythes move to Four Winds, where their first child, Joyce is born and dies. In 1892, Jem Blythe is born, then Walter a year later. In 1893, his mother visits and witnesses the birth of Di and Nan. Shirley is born another two years later, in which Gilbert's mother dies in the following year, and his father the following. Rilla is born that same year in the summer. In 1905, Gilbert and Anne celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary, and they celebrate in 1906 by taking a second honeymoon totalling three months during Gilbert's medical congress in London. World War I arrives, and three of their sons enlist. Sadly, only two manage to come home.

Last updated: March 12, 2006
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