Gibson was born in Argentina, the second son of Sir Herbert Gibson, 1st Baronet, of Linconia and Faccombe. In 1918, in the absence of first-class cricketers to choose from because cricket was suspended during the First World War, Wisden picked Gibson, a fast-medium swing bowler from Eton College, as one of its Cricketers of the Year, along with four other "public school bowlers". He was captain of cricket at Eton in both 1918 and 1919.