Robin Jenkins
Scottish writer; (1912-2005)
John Robin Jenkins (11 September 1912 – 24 February 2005) was a Scottish writer of 30 published novels, the most celebrated being The Cone Gatherers. He also published two collections of short stories.
Career
John Robin Jenkins was born in Flemington near Cambuslang in 1912 to Annie (née Robin) and James Jenkins, spirit salesman. In 1919, his father died after serving in the trenches during World War I and his mother worked in domestic service to support her children.
He won a bursary to attend the Hamilton Academy, then a fee-paying school. The theme of escaping circumstances through education at such a school was to form the basis of Jenkins's later novel Happy for the Child (1953). Winning a scholarship, he subsequently studied literature at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1936. During the World War II he registered as a conscientious objector and was sent to work in forestry in Argyll (forestry work would re-appear in The Cone Gatherers). Upon release of his first novel, So Gaily Sings the Lark (also derived from his conscientious objector experience) in 1950, he adopted the pen name 'Robin Jenkins'.
In the early years of his writing career, Jenkins worked as an English and history teacher.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Robin Jenkins” as scottish writer; (1912-2005). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7352574. VIAF identifies the subject as 113471470. The Library of Congress control number is n79117993. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1912, 2005, 1919 and 1953.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robin Jenkins” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.