He was born on 8 April 1862 in
Manchester, the son of James Robinson. He studied medicine at the
University of Edinburgh graduating
MBChB in 1883. He then became a Demonstrator in
William Turner's anatomy class. He then went to
Owen's College in Manchester as a Demonstrator to Professor A.H. Young and the Victoria University in Manchester. He received his doctorate (MD) from the University of Edinburgh in 1890. In 1896 he went to
Middlesex Hospital in
London replacing
John Bland-Sutton as a lecturer in anatomy. In 1900 he went to
King's College, London as Professor of Anatomy. In 1905 he moved to the
University of Birmingham as Professor of Anatomy and Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. In 1909 he returned to the University of Edinburgh to replace
Daniel John Cunningham as Professor of Anatomy. In 1910 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were
Sir William Turner,
George Chrystal,
Cargill Gilston Knott, and
John Sutherland Black. He served as Secretary to the Society 1912 to 1918 and as Vice President 1918 to 1921. He won the Society's Neill Prize for the period 1925/27. He received an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1932 for his books. He died in
Eastbourne on 3 December 1948. ==Family==