Robert John Renison (8 September 1875 – 6 October 1957) was an Irish-born Anglican bishop who worked in Canada. Renison was born in

Cashel, County Tipperary Cashel (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,422 in the 2016 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of ''Cashel''. Additionally, the ''cathedra'' of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel ...

into an ecclesiastical family on 8 September 1875 and educated at

Trinity College School Trinity College School (TCS) is a co-educational, independent boarding and day school located in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. TCS was founded on May 1, 1865, more than two years before Canadian Confederation. It includes a Senior School ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. Ordained in 1896, his first position was as a curate at the Church of the Messiah,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, after which he was a missionary at Fort Albany. He was the Archdeacon of Moosonee and, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

service, the Archdeacon of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. He was then

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Christ Church,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

until 1929 when he became

Dean of New Westminster Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is the second cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster of the Anglican Church of Canada. A place of worship in Greater Vancouver, the cathedral is located at 690 ...

. In 1931 he was elected

Bishop of Athabasca The Anglican Diocese of Athabasca is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada, in the northern half of the civil province of Alberta. It was created in 1874 by the division into four parts of the ...

but only held the post for a year. From then until 1943 he was

of St Paul's

when he became the Bishop of Moosonee. In 1952 he became the

Metropolitan of Ontario The Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario is one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. It was established in 1912 out of six dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada located in the civil province of Ontario, and ...

, a position he held until retirement in 1954. He died on 6 October 1957.

Renison University College Renison University College is an affiliated university college of the University of Waterloo and located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Renison's campus is situated on the western border of Waterloo's main campus. The university college offers a ...

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the ci ...

is named after him.

Arms

References

1866 births People from County Tipperary Trinity College (Canada) alumni University of Toronto alumni Anglican archdeacons in North America Deans of New Westminster Anglican bishops of Moosonee Anglican bishops of Athabasca 20th-century Anglican Church of Canada bishops Metropolitans of Ontario 20th-century Anglican archbishops 1957 deaths {{Canada-Anglican-bishop-stub