Robert Reiss

The ashes of former Canon and Sub-Dean of Westminster were interred in the south cloister of the Abbey on 7th September 2026. The inscription reads:

"Robert Paul Reiss 1943-2023 Canon of Westminster 2005-2013 Treasurer & Sub-Dean"

His Life

He was born in 1943 and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and Westcott House in the same city. After serving a curacy at St John's Wood in London from 1969 he travelled to India and Asia in 1973 to work at a mission in the diocese of Dacca. Later he was chaplain at Trinity College, Selection Secretary for the Advisory Council for the Churches Mission (ACCM), and from 1986-1996 was Team Rector of Grantham in Lincolnshire where he then became Rural Dean . In 1996 he was appointed Archdeacon of Surrey and an Honorary Canon of Guildford cathedral. He was also a trustee of the Churches Conservation Trust. 

In 2005 he was appointed Canon Treasurer of Westminster Abbey and was Sub-Dean from 2011, retiring in 2013. He died on 26th January 2023 aged 80 and his funeral was held at Salisbury.

On 7th November 1985 in Westminster Abbey he married Dixie Nichols and they have a daughter Anya.