Robinson, Geoffrey

Geoffrey Robinson was born in Ludlow, Shropshire, 18 February 1922. He was educated at Ludlow Grammar School and in 1939 joined the Territorial Army (Militia) Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Because he was underage for active training he was transferred to the Home Defence Searchlight Regiment and served north of London during the Battle of Britain. In 1941 he transferred to the Royal Air Force for air crew training and was sent to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to train as a navigator. He was awarded his navigator's wing and was commissioned on Charlottetown Square prior to returning to England. Following nasal surgery, he obtained early discharge and entered St. Mary's Hospital School, Portsmouth, where he had been accepted prior to the outbreak of the war. He graduated in 1951 and in 1953, following an additional 30 months in various house jobs at St. Mary's Hospital, returned to Prince Edward Island with his wife Dorothy Holgate, whom he had maried in 1944, and his two sons Allan and Nigel. He spent one year practising medicine in Alberton before moving to Tyne Valley to oversee the Stewart Memorial Health Centre. After 12 years he moved to Western Canada but returned to practice in Montague in 1966. In 1978 he returned to Tyne Valley where he practised in semi-retirement for another 12 years. Besides becoming actively involved in community affairs, the Robinsons were intrigued by the local stories of rum-running and boot-legging, methods used to cope with the total prohibition of the 1920s and 30s. After several years of interviews and research in PEI, Nova Scotia, St. Pierre, and the United States, in 1980 they published "The Nellie J. Banks: rum-running to Prince Edward Island". This volume was followed by "It came by the boatload: essays in rum-running" in 1983 and "Duty free" in 1992. Dr. Robinson died at his home in Tyne Valley on 5 May 2000.