Robert Spence (bishop)

The Most Reverend Robert Spence
Archbishop of Adelaide
Robert Spence c. 1920
Archdiocese	Adelaide
Installed	6 July 1915
Term ended	5 November 1934
Predecessor	John O'Reily
Successor	Andrew Killian
Orders
Ordination	23 December 1882
Consecration	16 August 1914
Personal details
Born	(1860-01-13)13 January 1860 Cork, Ireland
Died	5 November 1934(1934-11-05) (aged 74) Adelaide, Australia
Nationality	Irish, Australian

Robert William Spence (13 January 1860 – 5 November 1934) was an Australian Roman Catholic clergyman, and the third Archbishop of Adelaide. Born in Ireland, Spence became a Dominican priest, and after serving as a prior in Kilkenny, moved to Adelaide, Australia in 1898. In 1915, he became Archbishop of Adelaide, a position he held until his death in 1934.

Robert Spence was born on 13 January 1860 in Cork, Ireland. The son of Robert Spence and his wife Ellen, née Sullivan, he received his education from the Christian Brothers and Vincentian Fathers before entering the Dominican novitiate in Tallaght, outside Dublin. Having professed in 1878, Spence moved to Lisbon, where he studied for the priesthood at Corpo Santo College. He was ordained a priest on 23 December 1882, and two days later, at Bom Sucesso convent he celebrated the first Dominican high mass in Portugal since religious orders were suppressed there in 1833. Returning to Ireland in 1885, he served in Cork and Newry, and ran retreats throughout Ireland, earning a reputation as a zealous and forceful preacher. In 1892, he became prior of the Black Abbey priory in Kilkenny, a position he held for six years.