Apthorp, East

(1733-Apr. 16, 1816). An early advocate for the episcopate in the colonies. He was part of a vigorous pamphlet war in the 1760s reflecting the tensions between the Church of England in the American colonies and the Congregational establishment, and the increasing confluence of anti-crown and anti-church sentiment in New England. Apthorp was born into a prominent Boston merchant family. He received his M.A. from Jesus College, Cambridge University, and was ordained deacon on Sept. 21, 1755, and priest on June 5, 1757. He was appointed an S.P.G. (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) missionary at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and became the first rector of Christ Church, Cambridge. Made uncomfortable by the controversies of the times, he accepted appointment as vicar of Croydon, England, a position he held for twenty-eight years. He also devoted himself to classical and historical studies. He never returned to the New World.