Robert Heaton Rhodes (1815 – 1 June 1884) was a New Zealand politician who represented the Akaroa electorate from 1871 to 1874, when he resigned.

[1] Born in 1815 in Rotherham, in the English county of Yorkshire,[2] he followed his brothers, including William Barnard Rhodes, to New Zealand in 1850, having worked in Australia.

On 24 August 1853, Rhodes stood in the Akaroa electorate for a position in the House of Representatives but was beaten by William Sefton Moorhouse.

[3] On 31 August 1853, Rhodes stood in the Akaroa electorate for one of two positions on the Canterbury Provincial Council.

Rhodes won the election, but there was a draw for second place, and the returning officer gave his casting vote to Rev.