Harold Graham Fector Robinson was born in Shanghai, China in c.1889. He was articled to Scott & Carter in Shanghai from 1905 to 1909 and remained with them as their assistant for a further year. He then moved to London where he worked as an assistant to John Belcher (1841-1913) and to John James Joass (1868-1952). Robinson qualified as an architect in 1911 and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) the following year. Some time after this he went back to Shanghai and became a partner in the architectural firm Moorhead Halse & Robinson, initially formed as Moorhead & Halse in 1907 by Robert Moorhead, a civil engineer and Sidney Joseph Halse (1877-1946), and its successor, Spence, Robinson & Partners, formed with Herbert Marshall Spence (1883-1958).
Robinson was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British architects (ARIBA) in 1912 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1929.
His address was given as 39 Peking Road, Shanghai in 1939. At some point he appears to have returned to England. He died in Wincanton, Somerset, England on 27 July 1966
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001