Arthur Lewis Jenkins was the eldest son of Sir John Lewis Jenkins, KCSI. He was born in Gloucestershire on 9th March 1892. His mother was Florence Mildred Jenkins, nee Trevor, who was born in India. Florence's father was Sir Arthur Charles Trevor KCSI. Arthur's siblings were Elinor Jenkins (WW1 poet) born in India in around 1893, Evan Meredith Jenkins, born in 1896 - who became a Governor of the Punjab - Joyce Angharad Jenkins, born in 1897, David Llewellyn Jenkins, born in 1899 - who became Baron Jenkins a high court judge - John Vaughn Jenkins, born in 1903, and Owain Trevor Jenkins, born in 1907 - who was later knighted.
Although their Father lived in India and their mother spent some time there, the Jenkins children were educated in England, where they lived at the family home in Littleham, Exmouth, Devon.
Arthur studied at Marlborough College after winning a scholarship to attend the school, where he eventually became Head Boy. He went on to study classics at Balliol College, Oxford and after a career in the army, planned to follow his father into the Indian Civil Service.
Commissioned into the British Army in 1911, Arthur was sent with his Regiment to India, then to Aden and later to Egypt. Arthur joined the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and was killed while on a training flight on 31st December 1917 at the age of 25. He is buried in Richmond Cemetery in Surrey.
Some of his poems were published in "Punch" magazine during his lifetime and a collection of his work was published by Sidgwick & Jackson under the title "Forlorn Adventures (and other poems)" in 1918. Some of Arthur's poems were also included in WW1 poetry anthologies.
With many thanks to Jacky Rodgers who found the information about Arthur while researching his sister the poet Elinor Jenkins.
Sources:
Roll of Honour;
"Western Mail" Thursday, 3 January 1918
Catherine W. Reilly "English Poetry of the First World War A Bibliography" (St. Martin's Press, New York, 1978)
I have not yet been able to find a photograph of Arthur but will keep searching.
