When Robert Gibbons was born in 1805, his father, John Gibbons, was 42 and his mother, Elizabeth Giles, was 39. He married Eliza Darby on 7 November 1833, in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 19 April 1867, at the age of 62, and was buried in Batcombe, Somerset, England, United Kingdom.