GISBURNE, Philos (1809-1888) — London
Bookseller & stationer; bookbinder; globemaker; schoolmaster; accountant. Produced with William Frost (see BME 2011) Frost’s portable terrestrial sphere 1832, with a printed explanation.
Born 21 Jul 1809 at Soham, Cambridgeshire, the son of John Gisburne (1777?-1826), a dissenting minister, later a bookseller, and his wife Elizabeth Roote (1783-1863), who had married in 1805. His birth was recorded in a non-conformist register 2 Jan 1812. Testified at the Old Bailey concerning the theft of books from his shop in Jan 1833. He married (1) Ann Cater (1812?-1902) at Soham 29 Jul 1833. Took (Clockmakers) a younger brother, Albion John Gisburne (1817-1838), as an apprentice bookseller and stationer 13 Jan 1834. His partnership with William Frost (see BME 2011) was formally ended 21 Jul 1834. By 1839, he had abandoned bookselling and was running a “classical, mathematical, and mercantile academy” at Somersham, Huntingdonshire, and offering a guinea for the apprehension of some youths who had broken his windows there with stolen apples (Cambridge Independent Press, 14 Sep 1839). He was recorded on the census there in 1841, resident with his wife and two children. “The course of instruction comprehends the English, Latin, and Greek languages, with the science of general grammar, and the principles of composition; the mathematics in their theoretical and practical departments; the most approved methods of transacting mercantile affairs; geography, with the use of the globes; and the construction of maps; ancient and modern history, natural philosophy, astronomy, elocution, drawing, painting, penmanship, &c.” (Cambridge Independent Press, 3 April 1841). He was running a similar establishment at Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, in 1847, but emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York on the Austrian ship Ida Kiss from Newport in Wales 10 Jan 1850, accompanied by a new wife in Louise (Louisa) Kent (1827-1906) and five children. He was employed as a teacher in New York later in 1850, resident with his second wife and an additional child born in New York. Became a naturalised American citizen 7 Aug 1856. Recorded as an accountant or book-keeper in Brooklyn from at least 1855 onwards. He was working as an accountant in Brooklyn in 1880, resident on Tenth Street with his second wife, a son and a grandson. Died of heart disease and dropsy at 165 Tenth Street 16 Nov 1888 and was buried 19 Nov at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
Bishopsgate — 1832-1833
53 (or 55) Bishopsgate Street — 1834
47 Liverpool Street — 1835
Apprentices: Albion John Gisburne 1834 (5s); William Pettet 1835 (£90).
Atkins. BNA. Census 1841, 1850-1855, 1865-1880. Dunn & Wallis. Evans (2012). LHD. OB.