War of 1812 he was chaplain of the British and Canadian forces, and, it is said, during his imprisonment by American troops, he ministered to them. He conducted General Brock's funeral services at Fort George. As well as being a clergyman, Robert was an entrepreneur. 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. On his death in 1829 he had some 6000 acres (24 km²) of Norwich land in his name. He left the management of this property to his second wife, Rebecca. Robert brought the first library or collection of books of any significance to Canada when he landed in Niagara in 1792. The books were believed to have originally been the property of his father in law, Richard Atkinson (father of first wife Mary) who was the curate of Whittlesey and died in Oct 1781. They were housed in the rectory for many years and then became property of Brock University. They were repatriated to St Mark's Church, (Church of England, now Anglican Church of Canada) which Addison founded at Niagara on the Lake and are now held in The Addison Library in Addison Hall, adjacent to the church. There are over 1200 volumes, many dating to the 16th and 17th century and they are accessible to the public for research purposes. Addison was followed to Canada by several other family members who settled in southern Ontario in the 1800s. References External links Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online 1754 births 1829 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Canadian Anglican priests English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario People from Heversham Immigrants to Upper Canada