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In addition to much information about this man on his , our colleague, Andrew Behan, writes that he was born on 27 November 1890 in Glenmore Villa, Claremont Road, Hornsey, Middlesex (now Greater London), the eldest of the three children of William Henry Gillett (1859-1953) and Amy Ford Gillett née Little (1856-1936). His birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1891 in the Edmonton Registration District, Middlesex (now Greater London). On 29 March 1891 he was baptised in Christ Church, Crouch End Hill, Hornsey, Middlesex, where the baptismal register confirms his date of birth, that his family lived in Claremont Road, Highgate and that his father was a bank manager.

He is shown on the census that was taken on 5 April 1891 as aged 4 months and residing at Glenmore, Claremont Road, Hornsey, with his mother and two female general servants. His father was recorded on the night of the census as a bank inspector who was visiting his widowed maternal grandmother, Harriet Barton, aged 81 years, who was living on her own means at Bewley House, Marshfield Road, Langley Burrell, Chippenham, Wiltshire.

The census that was compiled on 31 March 1901 shows him as aged 10 years and living at 33 Jacksons Lane, Hornsey, with his parents and two siblings: Frances Mary Gillett (1892-1978) and Herbert Edward Gillett (1895-1953), together with a cook and a housemaid. His father was described a joint stock bank inspector.

He was described in the census return form that was completed by his father on 2 April 1911 as aged 20 years and a chartered accountant's articled clerk living in a 16 roomed property at 'Holmwood', Bishopwood Road, Highgate, London, with his parents and his sister Frances Mary Gillett, together with a cook, a parlourmaid and a housemaid. His father listed himself as a "counting manager of a London joint stock bank (i.e. bank manager)".

He was commissioned as an officer in the 1st/7th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) and entered France on 15 March 1915 rising to the rank of Captain. In addition to the , he received the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal.

In June 1919 he married Audrey Isabel Penrose Wardlaw (1894-1962) in Kensington, London and they had one child, Robin Danvers Penrose Gillett (1925-2009).

He was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London in July 1923 as member of the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers.

Electoral registers from 1920 to 1924 list him at 65 Palace Gardens Terrace, Kensington and from 1925 to 1927 they show him and his wife at 2 Percy Villas (later renamed Sheffield Terrace), Kensington. From 1928 to 1932 both and his wife were shown at 33 Sheffield Terrace, Kensington and in 1933 and 1934 they were listed at 81 Campden Hill Court, South Kensington.

In the England and Wales Register that was compiled on 29 September 1939 his date of birth was confirmed as 27 November 1890 and he was described as: married, a chartered accountant, chairman & director of a public company, a retired captain in the Territorial Army 1st/7th Middlesex Regiment 1911-1921 M.C. and Mentioned in Despatches. He was living at 'Outlook', Third Avenue, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, with his wife.

His death was registered as aged 85 years in the 3rd quarter of 1976 in the Bath, Avon (now known as Bath and North Somerset) Registration District. Probate records confirm that his address was Elm Cottage, Biddestone, Chippenham, Wiltshire and that he died on 21 September 1976 at Cranhill, Weston Road, Bath. Probate was granted on 14 January 1977 and his effects totalled £210,262.

He is shown as "Sydney Harold Gillett, MC, Alderman" on the Old Bailey - WW2 memorial plaque inside the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London, EC2 and as "Sir Sydney Harold Gillett, Kt. MC, Lord Mayor" on the London Wall road memorial at London Road, London, EC2.