The Education of a Prince

Join our annual President’s Address as Prof Sir Ghillean Prance discusses Frederick Waymouth Gibbs, tutor to King Edward VII.

As well as tutoring King Edward VII and his brother, Prince Alfred, Gibbs was a barrister. Originally from Plymouth, he was a member of the Plymouth Athenaeum from 1859-97.

Sir Ghillean is a world-renowned scientist and a former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Gibbs was his grandfather's cousin.

A Fellow of the Royal Society, Sir Ghillean co-edited the book The Education of a Prince: The Diary and Correspondence of Frederick Waymouth Gibbs with Rachel J. Crosby.

As a botanist, Prof Prance has travelled and conducted research extensively in South America, with a focus on sustainability and management of the environment through increasing our knowledge and understanding of the plant kingdom.

Knighted in 1995, he was president of the Linnean Society from 1997-2000, having been made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993. His other honours include the Victoria Medal of Honour (1999), the Patron’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (1994).

In 2000 he was made a Commander of the Order of the Southern Cross by the President of Brazil, and in 2012 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon by the Government of Japan.

Sir Ghillean is also a direct descendant of one of the Plymouth Athenaeum’s founding Presidents of 1812, William Prance.

Please note: this lecture is taking at the Green Taverners Marquee NOT the Plymouth Athenaeum due to refurbishment works at the Plymouth Athenaeum.

Venue: Green Taverners Marquee, Home Park, Plymouth, PL2 3DQ.