[1] He was born in York, Upper Canada (now Toronto) in 1799 and grew up in Kingston.

[1] He was the son of John Gamble (1755–1811), a Loyalist surgeon with the Queen's Rangers.

Gamble settled in Etobicoke Township, but later moved to Pine Grove in Vaughan Township, where he set up a grist mill, a distillery and cloth factory.

Gamble acquired the mill, located on the Humber River, just north of Bloor Street, in 1828.

The original wooden structure burned down in 1848, and Gamble replaced it with an impressive five story stone mill.