Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert was born on August 1, 1817, in Hull, Yorkshire, England.

He was an English chemist, known for his long career spent improving the methods of practical agriculture. He studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow, University College, London, and at the University of Giessen, Germany. In 1843, he became the director of the chemical laboratory at the agricultural experiment station at Rothamsted, near St. Albans, the position he held until his death in 1901. His work involved the application of chemistry, meteorology, botany, animal and vegetable physiology, and geology to the methods of practical agriculture. In 1860, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1867, he was awarded a Royal Medal. In 1880, he presided over the Chemical Section of the British Association at its meeting at Swansea, and in 1882, he became president of the London Chemical Society. He was also an honorary professor at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. He was knighted in 1893.

In 1850, he married Eliza Forbes Laurie (1819–1853) and in 1855, he remarried Maria Smith (1828–1916). He died on December 23, 1901, in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.