On the afternoon of 29 May 1911, Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, one half of the legendary Gilbert and Sullivan partnership, entered the lake at his Harrow Weald estate to save a drowning girl. He succeeded in his rescue attempt but suffered a fatal heart attack in the process. He was 74 years old.
The Swimming Lesson That Turned Tragic
The day had begun ordinarily enough at Grim's Dyke, the Victorian mansion Gilbert had called home since 1890. At about 4 pm, he met two local girls at the lake: Winifred Isabel Emery, a teacher of about 21 years old, and her 17-year-old pupil Ruby Vivian Preece, who was boarding at 76 Welldon Crescent, Harrow. Gilbert had arranged to give them a swimming lesson.
The water was cold that May afternoon. According to Winifred Emery's later recollection, the girls entered the water before Gilbert. Ruby Preece swam ahead, then called out in distress: "Oh, Miss Emery, I am drowning!"
Gilbert, standing on the steps, called out that she should not be frightened and that he was coming. He swam to her quickly and instructed: "Put your hands on my shoulder and don't struggle." She did as he said.
Almost immediately, she felt him sink beneath her. At the subsequent coroner's inquest, Preece testified: "I found that I could not stand and called out and Sir William swam to me. I put my hand on his shoulder and I felt him suddenly sink. I thought he would come up again. My feet were on the mud then."
He did not resurface.
The Lake Gilbert Built
The irony was profound. The lake where Gilbert met his end was, in many ways, his own creation. When he purchased Grim's Dyke in 1890, the grounds contained a small body of water. Gilbert had considerably extended it, beginning work in 1899 and personally assisting in the excavation. By 1905, it measured approximately 170 yards by 50 yards, covering about one and a half acres.
The lake was Gilbert's pride. It featured an island in the middle, a punt house, a changing hut, and an artificial waterfall. He had it drained and refilled annually to keep the water clear, and stocked it with trout. From March to September, Gilbert swam in its waters every day. He was a strong swimmer, which made the circumstances of his death all the more shocking.
The Inquest and Verdict
Gilbert's body was recovered and laid out in the billiard room at Grim's Dyke, now the hotel's restaurant. The coroner's jury convened there on 31 May 1911. Medical certification by family doctor W.W. Shackleton and Daniel Wilson of Bushey Heath Cottage Hospital determined the cause of death: syncope, or heart failure, brought on by excessive exertion.
The jury recorded a verdict of accidental death.
The Girl Who Survived
Ruby Vivian Preece survived the incident and went on to live a remarkable life. She later changed her name to Patricia Preece, becoming an artist of some note. In 1937, she married the painter Stanley Spencer, becoming a controversial figure in 20th-century British art circles. She died on 19 May 1966, aged 72.
Her father was a named mourner at Gilbert's funeral, a poignant footnote to the tragedy.
Aftermath at Grim's Dyke
The death of her husband affected Lady Gilbert profoundly. She ordered the lake closed off and largely drained, an act that stood as memorial to the catastrophe. The property remained in the family, with Lady Gilbert and the Gilberts' ward, Nancy McIntosh, continuing to live there until Lady Gilbert's death in 1936.
The house then passed through several incarnations: the contents were sold at auction in March 1937, realising Β£4,600; the Middlesex County Council and London County Council acquired it jointly, leasing it as a rehabilitation centre from 1937 to 1962; from 1963, it served primarily as a film and television location; and in 1970, it became the Grim's Dyke Hotel, which still operates today.
Harrow Council owns the building and the remaining 30 acres, having leased the property to the hotel since 1970. The house is a Grade II* listed building, and its gardens appear on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
A Local Tragedy
The drowning at Grim's Dyke was not merely a celebrity death. It was a local tragedy that touched Harrow directly. Ruby Preece was a schoolgirl living in the borough. The inquest was held in the billiard room of a Harrow Weald mansion. The body was attended by local doctors.
Today, visitors to the Grim's Dyke Hotel can walk the grounds where Gilbert once swam daily. The lake has been partially restored, though it is no longer used for swimming. The property takes its name from Grim's Ditch, the prehistoric earthwork that runs from Pinner Hill to Bentley Priory in Harrow, a reminder that this corner of northwest London has long been a place where history is written.
Gilbert's ashes rest in the churchyard of the ruined church at Stanmore, a short distance from the estate where he spent his final, heroic moments.