Sir David Robinson (13 April 1904 – 10 January 1987) was a British

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. He donated £18 million to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

to establish a new college in his name.

Robinson College, Cambridge Robinson College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both ...

, the newest in the university, was formally opened in 1981. Robinson also donated £3 million to start the Rosie Hospital, named after his mother, which is now a part of

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...

in Cambridge. Robinson was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the third of six sons and third of nine children of Herbert Robinson, cycle shop and later garage owner, and his wife, Rosie Emily Tricker. He was educated at the Cambridge and County High School for Boys, which according to the ''Cambridge Evening News'' "had been started in 1900 to meet the requirements of boys who are likely to follow industrial and commercial pursuits" and which he left at the age of fifteen in order to work in his father's bicycle shop in Cambridge. In 1930 he moved to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, where he took over a garage and developed it into a large and prosperous firm. In the late 1930s, he built a business

renting Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the use of a good, service or property owned by another over a fixed period of time. To maintain such an agreement, a rental agreement (or lease) is sig ...

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

s and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

s, which was commercially successful."Sir David Robinson"
/ref> Robinson was also involved with

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...

: in the late 1960s and 1970s he owned a large number of winning horses which also yielded significant profits. His racing stables, Clarehaven, was one of the biggest racing stables in England. His string of 120–150 horses was split between two trainers,

Michael Jarvis Michael Jarvis (14 August 1938 – 20 September 2011) was a Thoroughbred horse trainer in England. Based in Newmarket, Jarvis trained numerous Group One winners including three winners of the British Haydock Sprint Cup. Jarvis's horses also ...

and Paul Davey. He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed in 1985, and died two years later in Newmarket, the centre of English horse-racing.

References

External links

Biography of Sir David Robinson from the Robinson College website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, David 1904 births 1987 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople British racehorse owners and breeders Knights Bachelor Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England 20th-century British philanthropists