John Richard, son of John and Elizabeth Walbran, was born at Ripon, Yorkshire, on 24 December 1817, and educated at Whixley in the same county. After leaving school he assisted his father, an iron merchant, and eventually became an independent wine merchant.
From his early years he had a marked taste for historical and antiquarian studies, and all the time that he could spare from his avocation was occupied with archaeological investigations, especially with respect to the ecclesiastical and feudal history of his native county. His study of the records of Fountains Abbey led him to make a specialty of the history of the whole Cistercian order. A paper by him On the Necessity of clearing out the Conventual Church of Fountains, written in 1846, originated the excavations at Fountains Abbey, which were carried out under his personal direction.
Walbran was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 12 January 1854, and in 1856 and 1857 filled the office of mayor of Ripon.
In April 1868 he was struck with paralysis, and died on 7 April 1869. He is buried in Holy Trinity churchyard, Ripon.
