Annual President's Address lecture by Professor Sir Ghillean Prance on Frederick Waymouth Gibbs, tutor to King Edward VII.
Professor Sir Ghillean Prance is at the Green Taverners Marquee on Thursday 1 October, delivering the Plymouth Athenaeum's annual President's Address. The talk is titled The Education of a Prince, and it's built around Frederick Waymouth Gibbs, a Plymouth barrister who tutored King Edward VII and his brother Prince Alfred. Gibbs was a member of the Athenaeum from 1859 to 1897, so there's a direct local connection to the man at the centre of the story.
Prance knows the subject from the inside: he co-edited The Education of a Prince: The Diary and Correspondence of Frederick Waymouth Gibbs with Rachel J. Crosby, and the lecture draws on that work to recount Gibbs' life and his time teaching the future king. It's a look at a Plymouth figure whose influence reached right into the royal household.
Prance himself is a world-renowned scientist and former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He's been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1993, was knighted in 1995, and served as president of the Linnean Society from 1997 to 2000. There's a family link here too: he's a direct descendant of William Prance, one of the Athenaeum's founding Presidents back in 1812.
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That founding date is worth keeping in mind. The Athenaeum started in 1812 as the Plymouth Institution, and Charles Darwin is among its past members. Over the years it's hosted visitors as varied as The Beatles and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This talk is being held at the Green Taverners Marquee at Home Park, PL2 3DQ, while the Athenaeum's home is being refurbished. It starts at 19:30 and entry is free, with tickets available via Eventbrite.
