Robin Jenkins OBE was a Scottish writer of thirty published novels, the most celebrated being The Cone Gatherers. He also published two collections of short stories. Robin Jenkins was born John Robin Jenkins in Flemington near Cambuslang in 1912; his father died when John was only seven years old and he and his three siblings were brought up by his mother in straitened circumstances. However, he won a bursary to attend the former Hamilton Academy then a famous 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 Winning a scholarship, he subsequently studied Literature at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1936. During the Second World War, he registered as a conscientious objector and was sent to work in forestry. Upon the release of his first novel, So Gaily Sings the Lark in 1951, he shortened his writing name to 'Robin Jenkins'. In the early years of his writing career, Jenkins worked as an English and History teacher. 

September 11th, 1912 in Cambuslang  /  Died:   Feb 24th, 2005