Robert Terrill Rundle

Robert Terrill Rundle
Robert Terrill Rundle, circa 1860
Born	18 June 1811 Mylor, Cornwall, UK
Died	4 February 1896(1896-02-04) (aged 84) Garstang, Lancashire, England
Spouse(s)	Mary Wolverson
Children	9 (4 survived to adulthood)
Parent(s)	Robert Rundle Sr. and Grace Carvosso
Church	Wesleyan Methodist
Ordained	8 March 1840
Congregations served	Various throughout present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada; other circuits in England.
Offices held	Minister in Fort Edmonton
Title	Reverend

Robert Terrill Rundle (18 June 1811 – 4 February 1896) was a Cornish Wesleyan Methodist missionary from Cornwall, UK. His most noteworthy activities relate to his missionary work in Western Canada between 1840 and 1848.

Rundle was born in Mylor, Cornwall in 1811. As the grandson of the noted Methodist lay minister William Carvosso, and nephew of Carvosso's prominent missionary son, Benjamin, religion, in particular Methodism, was an obvious influence on Rundle's life from early on. Rundle's father kept his family within the Church of England. This Anglican influence stayed with Robert even after he joined the Methodist church in later years, as he still relied on documents such as the Book of Common Prayer in his ministry.

Robert Rundle enrolled in a business school near Boscastle, Cornwall in 1837. Once describing himself as a "radical", he felt that he would, "be transformed into a Tory before long," by the influence of his instructors. While at Boscastle, Rundle took an interest in the Wesleyan Church affairs there. Eventually Rundle joined the Wesleyan Church in a more active role; he undertook several months of missionary training, and was ordained on 8 March 1840, in London after being approved for a missionary assignment in Rupert's Land.

In 1840, the Hudson's Bay Company reached a deal with the Wesleyan Missionary Society that several Methodist missionaries would be dispatched to the western districts of Rupert's Land. This was spurred in part by pressure from Evangelical groups in England, as well as from a desire by the Company to improve its public face by improving the standard of living in Rupert's Land. Ultimately, it was also meant to keep the British Government sympathetic to the HBC in case another party tried to stake a claim on Rupert's Land. The Company's Governor in Rupert's Land, Sir George Simpson, wanted to avoid giving ground to the Roman Catholic missionaries, who were backed by the French Government and already had a presence in the eastern districts, and maintain the HBC's control over the west. Robert Rundle was among the four who were invited, and after only two months of training, he was ordained. Just over a week later on 16 March 1840, he shipped out from Liverpool.