William Gilbee Scott was born in Hackney, London, England on 14 October 1857. He was articled to Mathew Edward Habershon (1826-1900) and Edgar Philip Loftus Brock (1833-1895) from 1872 to 1877 and remained with them for a further year as their assistant. He also attended classes at the Architectural Association Schools in London and at the South Kensington Museum. From 1878 to 1882 he was employed as an assistant to Ewan Christian (1814-1895). In 1882 he commenced independent practice as an architect in London. He was at one time in partnership with his son, Bernard Wardlaw Habershon Scott (1888-1978).
Scott was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1881, and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1891. He was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal in 1878 for measured drawings of Lavenham Church, Suffolk.
His address was given as 98 Eleanor Road, Hackney, London in 1881; 102 Guilford Street, Russell Square, London in 1882; Harden House, Crescent Road, Enfield, London in 1890; 25 Bedford Row, Enfield, London in 1890 and 1930; 125 Rodenhurst Road, Clapham Park, London in 1914; and 30 Mount Nod Road, Streatham, Surrey in 1930. He died at 90 Kings Road. Harrogate, Yorkshire on 31 August 1930
Notable among W. B. Scott's architectural works were the alterations to St Peter & St Paul Church, Appleford, Oxfordshire (1885-86); Gower Street Memorial Chapel [now Soho Baptist Chapel] in London (1887-88); Woodgrange Park Cemetery Chapel in London (1888); the restoration of St. Marks Church in Brighton, East Sussex (1890); The Salvation Army Citadel in Burgess Street, Sheffield (1892); The London and Provincial Bank (1897); Holy Trinity Church in Horsham, West Sussex (1899-1900); the Public Swimming Baths in Edmonton, London (1900); and, with his son, the rebuilding of a cigar factory in Spitalfields, east London (1922-25). He also designed a number of schools.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001