According to The Dictionary of Irish Biography the Gildea family settled in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, in the early eighteenth century although William claimed "my family have held the same property in the West [of Ireland] in unbroken line for over 300 years" and, on at least one occasion, he said it was "upwards of 500 years".

William was the second son of the Anglican Provost of Tuam Cathedral, County Galway. The Rev. George Robert Gildea and his wife Esther had seven children giving William three brothers and three sisters, all of whom (except for his youngest sister whose birthplace is currently unknown) were recorded as being born in Ireland. This makes it surprising that, in 1833, William was born in Torquay, Devon.

His three brothers were all educated in Ireland but William was sent to Marlborough College and then Exeter College, Oxford. After Oxford he went on to be ordained as a Deacon by the Bishop of Salisbury in 1856 and then as a Priest in 1858. He was Curate of Compton Valence from 1856 to 1861 and the Vicar of Holy Trinity, West Lulworth from 1862 to 1879. His brothers all pursued military careers.

There is an excellent page about the Gildea Family on the West Lulworth website which also details William's time there as Vicar.

On 14th March, 1879, The Bridport News announced that Rev. H. R. Yeatman, who had only been the vicar of Netherbury for a year and a half, would shortly leave for Sydenham "where there is a sphere for more work than at Netherbury". Two weeks later they followed it up with:

The Bishop of Salisbury has offered the living of Netherbury to the Rev. L. Henslow, rector of Zeals, Wilts, and the offer has been accepted. Mr. Henslow preached one of the Lent lectures, and his services are likely to be very acceptable in this large parish.

The following week a letter was published:

Sir, — Permit me to correct an inaccuracy which has appeared in your journal last week. The living of Netherbury has not been offered to Mr. Henslow of Zeals, neither can it be offered to anyone until the present vicar resigns in October, but subject to many contingencies the Bishop proposes to offer the living to the Rev. W. Gildea, who has been 16 years Vicar of West Lulworth, and has signified his intention of accepting it.
I remain,
Your obedient servant.
HUYSHE YEATMAN.
Netherbury Vicarage.

On the 3rd of November 1879 Gildea was presented with a gold watch at a meeting of the parishioners of West Lulworth and soon after he took up his new post at Netherbury.

The 1881 census records William and his wife, Sarah Caroline, living in the Vicarage with five of their eight children: Ethel, Ester, Henry, Marian & Wilhelmina. There were three older sons: George, John and Robert (aged 17, 15 & 14 in 1881), who were not included in the census. William and Caroline would have one more son, James, three years later.

Although their eldest son, George Stanhope Simes Gildea, was not listed in the 1881 census he was almost certainly the subject of an almost unbelievable story that appeared in The Western Gazette in February the following year with the headline "Netherbury. Tremendous Leap":

On Tuesday last, Mr. Gildea, jun., ascended the tower of this church, and his Irish setter followed at his heels. When on the top the dog suddenly sprang over the parapet, falling on the turf and making in it a deep impression. On getting down Mr. Gildea naturally expected to find the dog dead, but, strange to say, it was found able after a time to walk about, and it is believed it will recover from the effects of the tremendous leap.

In the following year's Melplash Agricultural Society and Dorset County Dog Show G. S. S. Gildea was awarded £2 for achieving second place with his entry in the Setter class. The report doesn't say if it was the same dog.

The next year, 1884, William and Caroline's second son, John, travelled to Australia. There is a record of an "Inward" passenger, Mr. J. W. Gildea, arriving in Melbourne, Victoria, on the S.S. Liguria in September 1884. The passenger's age is given as 36, John would have been 18, but otherwise the details match. He's listed as an "Unassisted" passenger meaning his fare was not paid by the government so he may not have been intending to stay permanently. However he made a life for himself, settling in Augathella, Queensland, marrying, having three children and eventually dying, aged 70, in 1936.

John probably just missed the birth of his youngest brother, James Frederick Simes Gildea, who arrived in July 1884 and would grow up to be known as "Fred".

Rev. Gildea was undoubtedly a man of strong opinions and he wasn't shy about sharing them. He was heavily involved in politics alongside his duties in the church and was a prominent member of the local Conservative Party frequently speaking at meetings in Beaminster and Bridport as well as Netherbury on a wide range of topics. He served on many committees, was President & Chairman of the Netherbury Friendly Society and Sick Club, a Governor of Beaminster & Netherbury Grammar School (becoming Chair of Governors by August 1891) and, from 1883, Chaplain of The Beaminster Union Workhouse.

He was frequently in the local newspapers both in reports of his speeches and the letters columns. His topics were those of the day which were causing massive rifts in the parties that dominated British Politics at the time. The main subject was "Home Rule for Ireland" which was being proposed by the Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone and strongly opposed by William Gildea. With his background - coming from an Anglican, land-owning, family - that was hardly a surprise, nor was his ardent resistance to the prospect of any loosening of the ties between the Anglican church and the state. He also spoke frequently in opposition to "Free Trade" arguing for "Fair Trade" which was the label given to the imposition of protectionist tariffs designed to prevent local produce being undercut by cheaper imports.

Late in the year 1885 there was a General Election and the new seat of West Dorset was contested for the first time. The Conservative candidate, Henry Farquharson, won the seat but nationally the Liberals were victorious after forming an alliance with the Irish Parliamentary Party and in February 1886 William Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time. The issue of Home Rule for Ireland split the Liberal Party and after only five months the breakaway Liberal Unionists Party was formed and the Liberals no longer had a majority. In July 1886 the was another General Election. Once again Henry Farquharson was returned as the MP for West Dorset and this time the Conservatives, with the support of the Liberal Unionists, were the overall victors and Lord Salisbury was able to form a government.

It's hard to know how Rev. Gildea's politics went down with his parishioners. Undoubtedly many of them would have shared his views, particularly the wealthier and more prominent members of the village "establishment" as many of them were also members of the local Conservative Party. On the face of it he maintained a fairly even hand and was twice thanked by the Liberals for allowing them to hold public meetings in the School Room - although it's hard to see why this was particularly in his gift. It should also be noted that on both occasions the room was packed with a large number of "opposition" Conservative supporters who did their best to disrupt proceedings.

He certainly seemed to think that his position in local society should command a recognition that, occasionally, it didn't receive. An example being, when (in 1895) at the first ever meeting of Netherbury Parish Council, to which he hadn't been elected, he sent a letter anticipating they may wish to employ his services as Chairman. The Bridport News reported that William Read proposed Rev. Gildea as Chairman:

"He also read a letter he had received from Canon Gildea, in which that gentleman clearly set forth that he personally had not the smallest wish for the post, but that if they (the Council) really desired it, then he would most readily place his services fully at their disposal."

The Council didn't adopt the proposal and instead seven of the eleven members voted to appoint William Salisbury, the eldest of the elected Members. On a subsequent meeting of the Parish Council The Western Gazette reported:

"A letter was read from the Vicar, Canon Gildea, saying he had not been apprised of the meeting. He supposed the Chairman and Clerk were new to their duties.—The Clerk (Mr. W. Macey) said he had given the schoolmaster, Mr. Dodd, due notice, and that, contrary to the Canon's remark, he knew something of public meetings."

The report goes on to say:

"The question of the custody of the parish documents was then considered, Councillor Read proposing that they remain in their present place in the church, the Council to possess a key as well the Vicar and Churchwardens. This was carried. Canon Gildea wrote saying he would index the principal books and papers for the good of the Council"

This generous act, whilst certainly being of some benefit to the Council, would also ensure Gildea could scrutinise the business of the Council - even if he wasn't invited to attend.

At a subsequent Parish Council meeting, held a couple of months later in the school room, the unanimous decision to keep the documents in the church was rescinded and it was decided to purchase a fire proof iron chest for the purpose. The report of the meeting in the Bridport News finished with the sentence "It was further decided to have future council meetings in the parish room".

The formation of Parish Councils signified a reduction in the power of the Church of England over the lives of ordinary people - particularly the lives of rural people. Many of the decisions that were now to be made by the Parish Council would have previously been in the control of the Churchwardens and the Clergy.  

A year before the creation of the Parish Council (1894), Gildea came in for considerable criticism in Netherbury, in his role as Chairman of the Governors of Beaminster and Netherbury Grammar School. This was surrounding the issue of whether the school should be rehoused in Netherbury's Old Workhouse or other premises in Beaminster. A sense of the depth of feeling and the divisions the issue caused can be felt in reading the Bridport News' report of a meeting held in The New Inn and Gildea's, frankly petulant, reaction to not having been informed of it. The report prompted Thomas Shugar to write a letter to the Bridport News complaining about their coverage of the meeting being "one-sided" and laying out the events as he recalled them.

It's impossible to gauge the accuracy of either account now but looking through the archive it's easy to get the impression that the Bridport News was very supportive of Rev. Gildea and his political views. Reports of his activities were common and when the reports were not simply noting his presence at a meeting or covering a speech his name was frequently accompanied by a favourable description: "This has been mainly through the efforts of the worthy vicar, the Rev. W. Gildea", "The Rev. W. Gildea, the esteemed rector of Netherbury", "The worthy vicar, the Rev. W. Gildea, was among the helpers and worked as hard, or harder, than anybody". That last quote is fairly typical, it's from a report of a fire that effected six cottages in Whitecross. The sentence before reads "The local police and nearly all the village of Netherbury turned out to look on and help in putting out the flames." and yet it is the Vicar who is singled out for particular praise.

Outside the political arena there were developments in the parish and within the Gildea family. In August of 1887 the foundation stone was laid for a new church at Salway Ash. This was a major development as the congregation there had, until then, only had a "chapel of ease" on the site of what is now the Primary School.

In 1891 the Gildea's oldest son, George, set sail for Buenos Aires, Argentina. Earlier in the year he was recorded in the census, living as a lodger in Bradpole and working as a Banker's Clerk. Like his younger brother John, he made a life for himself abroad, marrying and having four children in Argentina.

The following year, 1892, Rev. Gildea was heavily involved in the aftermath of the Great Fire of Netherbury, raising a subscription to assist some of the families who were left homeless afterwards.

In January 1895 it was announced that Harry, Rev. Gildea's fourth son, had "taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the Oxford University". He went on to Lichfield Theological College but had to leave when "his health broke down" and in October 1896, at the age of just 23 years, he died. He was buried at Netherbury and a memorial curb was installed outside the priest's door of St Mary's chancel.

The month before Harry died his oldest sister, Ethel, got married at St Marys, Netherbury, to David Crawford, a Gas Company Cashier who was also the child of a Reverend.

In the previous two and a half years Rev. Gildea had been through the rancour of the Grammar School relocation, the creation of the Parish Council, his oldest daughter had left home and the son who was following him into the ministry died at a tragically young age. It's hardly surprising that he might feel the need for a change of scene and maybe a bit of time off.

The following February the Western Gazette announced "Canon Gildea, who has been suffering from over-strain of work, has been ordered complete rest and change, and is leaving England."

There is little detail available about his sabbatical except that he was away for fifteen months, accompanied by his wife, Caroline, and daughter, Esther, during which he spent some time as Chaplain to the Anglican Community in Valparaiso, Chile. There would have been a lengthy sea cruise there and back as Valparaiso is on the Pacific coast of South America. As this was before the opening of the Panama Canal they would have had to sail south the length of the South American continent and then a third of the way back north to Valparaiso. At that time Valparaiso was a busy port on the main shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans with an English community thought to number more than 30,000.

It is possible that their ship docked at Buenos Aires on the journey so there could have been an opportunity to meet George's wife, Mary, and his first daughter, Ethel, who was born the year before. This is all speculation and it has been impossible to find any record of what happened during their absence from Netherbury.

It seems fairly safe to conjecture that Esther met Arthur Franklin Guillemard (known as Frank) while they were in Chile and some sort of relationship was started because she returned to Valparaiso and married him at St. Paul’s Church on 14 March 1899.

In Rev. Gildea's absence the Ven. Archdeacon Noyes took on his duties in Netherbury. One of which was preaching a sermon at the Annual Festival of Netherbury's Friendly Society and Sick Club, after which he was able to announce that Rev. Gildea would soon be returning - "He wrote saying he was in good spirits, and hoped soon to be back there working in their midst and cheering them on in their daily life".

The Western Gazette reported that, on the evening of 9th July 1898, "The Rev. Canon Gildea, Mrs. Gildea, the Misses E. and M. Gildea arrived at the Vicarage".

Just over three years later in the summer of 1901 The Western Gazette carried an article with the headline "The Departure of the Vicar":

"Yesterday week Canon Gildea invited his parishioners to tea in the Vicarage grounds to say "Good-bye." About 200 enjoyed the Vicar's hospitality. After tea Mr. E. R. Tucker, supported by Mr. W. Budden, presented the Canon with a candelabra on behalf of the parishioners. Mr. Tucker spoke of the excellent work done by the Vicar during his stay of nearly 22 years in the parish. He was certain they would have a hard matter to find Canon Gildea's equal. The Canon, in returning thanks, said that when he invited them to tea he had not the slightest idea that anything of the sort was to take place. They could not have chosen a more beautiful present. It was a great wrench for him to leave Netherbury. During his stay they had had differences both in religious and other matters, but everything had been settled in a most amicable way. He valued the presence of Mr. W. Budden that evening. Although they held different views in some things they had always been the best of friends. Cheers were then given for the Vicar and his family, after which the gathering dispersed."

He was moving on to become Rector of St. Laurence, Upwey, Dorset, where he served for another twenty years before retiring in 1921. Caroline died in 1924 aged 86 and William died just over a year later. They were both buried at Upwey.