Robert Stanser came to Canada in 1790 to become rector of St Paul’s, Halifax, Canada’s oldest Anglican church established in 1750. With the death of Bishop Charles Inglis in 1816 Dr Stanser became the second Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1816.
Approaching age and injuries in helping to extinguish a fire in Halifax in 1815 left the Bishop with broken health. He went to England in 1817 never returning to Nova Scotia. He was asked to resign but without a private income he declined. He eventually resigned in 1824.
With Bishop Inglis infirm for the last 10 years or so of his life and Bishop Stanser in England for 7 years Nova Scotia had effectively not had a episcopal head for 17 years. During this time there was little advancement of the Church of England in Nova Scotia with only one quarter of the population belonging to it. During this same time King’s College lost its preeminence with the opening of Dalhousie College in Halifax.