During the 1840s the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was becoming
very concerned about the state of the missions that served their
outposts. George Simpson, the Hudson's Bay Company governor at
the time, had become convinced that both the Anglican and Roman
Catholic clergy in Rupert's Land were beyond company control. As
a result, he began to limit their activities in this region and,
as an alternative began to recruit and place the more
conciliatory Methodist Ministers across Rupert's Land. Robert
Rundle was one of four Methodists invited by the Hudson's Bay
Company to establish missions in this area. Born in Mylor,
England in 1811, Robert Rundle was introduced to the church at
an early age, heavily influenced by both his grandfather, a
Methodist lay minister, and his uncle, a Reverend. In 1837 he
entered a business school, only to choose the ministry at the
end of two years of University study. After only two months of
theological training he was offered a missionary posting for the
Hudson's Bay Company's Saskat