Basil Walston Ribbons was born on the 21 May 1926. He was educated at the City of Norwich School, Norwich, and went on to study at Queen Mary College, University of London. In 1947 he graduated with a BSc in Botany. From 1947-1949 he held a post graduate studentship. Then in 1949 he joined the University of Glasgow as an assistant lecturer in the Botany Department. He was promoted to lecturer in 1952, working part-time from 1984. He remained with the University until his retirement in 1988. He took an active part in university life and from c1960 he was the Honorary Secretary of the Glasgow Association of University Teachers (GUAT), becoming its President in 1964. He also contributed numerous papers to botanical journals and from 1962-1977 was the editor of The Glasgow Naturalist.
From the guide to the Papers of Basil Walston Ribbons, b.1926, lecturer in botany, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1949-1988, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
