Reverend John Davenport

English, 1597 - 1670

BiographyReverend John Davenport was a clergyman and author, born in Coventry, England in 1597. He studied at Oxford and married Elizabeth Wolley. He was elected vicar of St. Stephen's Parish in London in 1624 (there was opposition to his election because of his Puritan leanings), and he contributed 50 pounds towards procuring a charter for the Massachusetts Colony. He was involved in a plot to form an inner organization within the Church of England which was foiled, and in 1637 he left England for America. He arrived in Boston and settled at the site of New Haven, Connecticut in 1638 to form a colony; he was chosen pastor of a new church there. From 1662-1667 he served as pastor of the first church in Boston (controversy over his leaving led to an eventual split in the church.) He wrote several books including 'A Discourse about Civil Government in a New Plantation,' 1673. He died in Boston on 15 March 1670 and is buried in King's Chapel Burying Ground in Boston.

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