AustLit

W. B. Gill arrived in Australia, with his parents, as a ten-year-old boy. The family initially took up residence in Castlemaine, Victoria, and later moved to Ballarat where, by 1862, Gill was appearing on the stage. In the following years, Gill worked in theatres in Melbourne, Victorian gold towns and Adelaide before departing for India in 1868.

In Calcutta, Gill operated as manager of the Lyceum Theatre from 1870 to 1871, but financial difficulties led him to return to Australia where he took up theatre work in various parts of New South Wales.

In 1873, Gill re-opened the Theatre Royal (previously the Lyceum Theatre) under the new name of Queen’s Theatre. By this time, Gill was not only acting and managing in theatres, he was also writing plays and pantomimes, the latter including the Christmas 1873 pantomime Harlequin, Man in the Moon.

On 12 May 1874, Gill left for the US and never returned to Australia. He continued to act and to write plays, comedies and musical extravaganzas in the US throughout the 19th century in a career featuring several Broadway successes.

Source: Gänzl, Kurt William B. Gill: From the Goldfields to Broadway. Routledge, New York ; London, 2002.