Jenkins, John Robin

Jenkins, John Robin, non de plume Robin from first novel,  humanitarian, born Flemington near Cambuslang in11/ 1912,his father died in 1916 after fighting in WWI trenches and his mother had to take domestic service,  teacher & later author  , Glasgow tribunal 25/1/40 given forestry, forestry worker in Argyll 1940 – 46, Glasgow Uni (English), MA, 1936, Teacher, English, Glasgow, Glasgow Uni (English), MA, 1936, Teacher, English, Glasgow,Teacher, Afghanistan, 1957-60;  Barcelona;  Borneo, Teacher Scotland 1968 -70, ILP member, Saltaire Society, Lifetime Achievement Award 2002, Robin Jenkins Literary Award, death 2/4/2005, (PPU records); won a bursary to attend the Hamilton Academy, Glasgow, 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. His best-known novel, The Cone Gatherers, is based on his forestry work as a conscientious objector in Argyll and is often studied in Scottish schools. In the early years of his writing career, Jenkins worked as an English and history teacher. In the 1950s, he taught at Riverside Senior Secondary in Glasgow's East End and later moved with his family to Dunoon where he taught at Dunoon Grammar School. He spent four formative years at the Gaya School in Sabah, Borneo, living there with his wife May and their children. Before that, he had held British Council teaching posts in both Kabul and Barcelona. (Wikipedia)