Robert Kidston was born on June 29, 1852, in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

He was a Scottish botanist and paleobotanist. He was educated at Stirling High School. He began a career in banking but, having gained independent wealth, he was able to focus on botany and studied at the University of Edinburgh. In the 1880s, he catalogued fossil plants for several important institutions, including the British Museum, and served as honorary paleobotanist to the British Geological Survey. He served as a senior officer of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1908, he was awarded an honorary degree of LL.D from the University of Glasgow and in 1921, the honorary degree of DSc from Manchester University. In over 180 scientific papers he laid the foundations for a modern understanding of the taxonomy and paleobiology of Devonian and Carboniferous plants. His expertise was critical to the research and curation of the Geological Survey and British Museum (Natural History). His definitive work was “The Fossil Plants of the Carboniferous Rocks of Great Britain” published in six parts 1923-1925 and completed after his death.

In 1898, he married Agnes Marion Christian Oliphant (1872–1950). He died on July 13, 1924, in Bridgend, Glamorganshire, Wales.