F. W. (Frederick William) Robinson

Frederick William Robinson was an English novelist, magazine editor, and drama critic, born in London on December 23, 1830, and died there on December 6, 1901. Sources about his life consistently describe him as a remarkably productive writer, with more than fifty novels to his name.

He was educated at Clarendon House School in Kensington or Kennington, depending on the source wording, and began publishing fiction in the mid-nineteenth century. Reference sources also note that he contributed journalism and criticism in addition to his novels, which helps explain the range of his writing career.

Robinson is now remembered mainly as a popular Victorian novelist whose work circulated widely in its day. He also wrote Female Life in Prison, associated with the pseudonym "A Prison Matron," adding another unusual thread to an already varied literary life.