He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1777, completing his BA in 1781 and was ordained a Deacon of the Church of England in Norwich, Norfolk, on 11 March 1781.
Robert applied to the Church of England's Society for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for missionary work in 1791 and was accepted for a position in May of that year.
He was only the second Protestant clergyman to venture into Upper Canada, the first being Anglican Rev John Stuart, who arrived in Cataraqui (Kingston) in 1786.
In 1796 he was the Chaplain of the House of Assembly (the provincial legislature) for which he received $100 a year and by 1798 was being provided 100 pounds per annum for his missionary work.
He ministered to Indians and whites from Fort Erie to the Grand River, preaching at intervals to the Mohawks in their church near Brantford, built in 1786.
When the church could not pay him wages for his services rendered to the province he accepted grants of land in the Niagara Peninsula.
He petitioned for other land grants in lieu of salary and eventually owned substantial land holdings across the province including lots in the township of Niagara, Stamford, East Flamborough, Dereham, Walsingham, Wawanosm and Deer Park in Toronto.