Robert John Renison (8 September 1875 – 6 October 1957) was an Irish-born

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 of Ireland, 2016 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of ''Cashel''. Additionally, the ''cathedra'' of the Roman Cathol ...

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 for ...

and the

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

. Ordained in 1896, his first position was as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at the Church of the Messiah,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, after which he was a missionary at Fort Albany. He was the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Moosonee Moosonee () is a town in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered to be "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port. Nearby, on Moose Factory Island, is the com ...

and, after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

service, the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. He was then rector 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 cit ...

until 1929 when he became Dean of New Westminster. In 1931 he was elected Bishop of Athabasca but only held the post for a year. From then until 1943 he was rector of St Paul's

when he became the Bishop of Moosonee. In 1952 he became the Metropolitan of Ontario, 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#Canada, university college of the University of Waterloo and located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Renison's campus is situated on the western border of University of Waterloo, Wate ...

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, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto, but it is n ...

is named after him.

Arms

References

1866 births People from Cashel, 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 Christian clergy from County Tipperary {{Canada-Anglican-bishop-stub