Grace Gilbert, née Brown, was born in Adams, Massachusetts, USA on 11 April 1862. Coming from one of the oldest and most prominent and well-respected Massachusetts families, she was the daughter of paper mill founder Levi Lafayette Brown and the former Helen Maria Howland. She had two known siblings.

Raised in Adams and in New York City, Grace was married on 13 June 1883 to John Humphrey Grenville Gilbert, a woollens manufacturer. The couple’s only child, Grenville Brown Gilbert, was born in July 1885 but died aged 15 in March 1901 as a result of pneumonia. Highly regarded in their community, Mr and Mrs Gilbert were heavily involved in many philanthropic organisations and the village of Gilbertville in Massachusetts was named for the family.

Lifelong residents of Ware, Mr and Mrs Gilbert were first cabin passengers aboard the Carpathia when that ship rescued the survivors of the Titanic disaster. After depositing the survivors in New York, the couple resumed their trip aboard the ship to Europe, eventually returning to the USA aboard the Laconia in early July 1912. The couple continued to travel frequently.

Following the death of her husband in 1932, Grace Gilbert remained a resident of Ware; however, she died whilst visiting her brother in Manhattan on 8 December 1940 and was buried with her husband the following day in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Ware.