Phil Robinson

Born in Chunar, India, on October 13, 1847, Philip Stewart Robinson wrote under the name Phil Robinson. He was educated at Marlborough College, worked first as a librarian in Cardiff, and then returned to India, where he assisted with The Pioneer and later taught literature, logic, and metaphysics at Allahabad College.

Robinson built a varied career in journalism and letters. After coming back to England in 1877, he wrote for the Daily Telegraph, reported on the second Afghan campaign and the Zulu War, and later worked as a correspondent in Egypt and Cuba. He was also involved in publishing work, including preparing Henry Morton Stanley's Through the Dark Continent for the press.

He is especially remembered as an early Anglo-Indian author whose essays mixed humor, style, and sharp natural observation. Books such as In My Indian Garden and Under the Punkah made ordinary plants, animals, and scenes of Indian life feel vivid and approachable to readers. He died on December 9, 1902.