Anselm was born in Sheffield, England and had a rather unremarkable childhood. His parents were professors in the science and engineering departments at The University of Sheffield, and so it was presumed that Anselm would in turn achieve a post-graduate degree. Anselm did, but to his parent’s dismay, studied history and literature rather than any “hard” science.
In his second year of teaching at Oxford, Anselm met Christine Hall. Christine was a graduate student in the English department, and was doing a semester abroad in order to better research the life of British intelligence agent turned author, Graham Greene. Anselm and Christine’s was a storybook romance, of sorts, and though she had to return to New York University to finish her degree, she then moved back to England, and in a short time the two were married. Christine found little difficulty, with Anselm’s help, in securing a job at one of Oxford’s women’s colleges. They had a happy life, void of any real strife, and five years later Andrea gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The couple named her Beatrice Ann, after their favorite female Shakespearian character and Christine’s mother.
Life continued as usual, with summers in rented country cottages or taking trips to Ireland and Scotland for their scenery, culture, and literature. Beatrice’s interest in theatre, which began with experiences in high school and continued in summer workshops and camps, led her to pursue a degree in theater at The Julliard School in New York City. Anselm and Christine supported the decision, as she would be close to her grandmother Ann in Yonkers. The Doctors Gilbert, part deux could not, of course, have predicted what would happen in the fall of their daughter’s sophomore year.
Beatrice immediately called her parents when her ability manifested, wanting answers that she was afraid to ask what few, more scientific friends she had at NYU. Anselm had some scientific contacts due to his parents’ fields, and soon shipped his daughter a copy of Chandra Suresh’s Activating Evolution in addition to purchasing one for himself and his wife. While for many, such a revelation might have threatened conflict, the Gilberts swore their love and acceptance for their daughter and did all they could from afar to support her. But no matter what they did, Anselm and Christine could not protect Beatrice from everything.
Anselm was teaching a night class on November 8th, 2006. Christine was at home, glued to the evening news which was reporting, as best they could, on the blast. When his cell phone rang for the fifth time in the middle of class, Anselm excused himself to answer it, immediately dismissing his students when met with the frantic voice of his wife. Instead of immediately rushing home, Anselm instead ran to the nearest dormitory to see the news report himself. When the BBC switched to a map showing the, at the time, estimated location of the bomb’s detonation point, Anselm hung up on his wife and got home as quickly as he could.
Over the next couple of days, Anselm displayed a barely controlled calm in his attempts to get a flight for himself and his wife into New York City in order to locate their daughter, a junior at Julliard at the time. Leaving their positions behind and renting out their home to a group of graduate students somewhat last-minute, the Gilberts were finally able to get a flight into Logan International Airport in Massachusetts, where they then rented a car to get to New York. In Yonkers, Christine was comforted by her mother while Anselm went about trying to locate Beatrice. It quickly became a lost cause, as there were thousands over other families grieving over the unknown fates of loved ones. Through his professional academic contacts, Anselm was able to get a position using Columbia University as a base for research in exchange for teaching a single class in both the English and History departments (though the institution’s deans were falling over themselves to get one of Oxford’s prestigious scholars to be considered a regular presence on their campus).
When Sylar was blamed, and then Evolved later rounded up and disappearing in some cases, Anselm’s compassion for the persecuted Evolved grew to even greater intensity. His continued search for his daughter at last put him in contact with Noah Bennett, and it wasn’t long before Anselm was brought in as a high society link for the Ferrymen, swaying and distracting minds when called for. His mother-in-law’s house was later brought into the network of safe houses, used as stopping point for Evolved persons making their way north out of the city.
