[2] He was sent to the St. Mathew's Military School in Burlingame, California, and then graduated from Harvard University in 1910.

He was scheduled for one of his weekly visits when a Japanese warplane crashed on the island after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

In what became known as the Niihau Incident, the pilot was captured, then freed by one of Robinson's Japanese employees.

Robinson led American soldiers to the island, where the remains of both the pilot and aircraft were recovered.

[4] A species of palm tree, Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii was named for him by botanist Harold St. John in 1947.