BEILBY PORTEUS

BEILBY PORTEUS (1731-1809), English churchman, born at York, of American parentage; graduated and became Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, and took orders in 1757; from the rectory of Hunton, Kent, he was preferred to that of Lambeth in 1767, thence to the bishopric of Chester in 1776, and to that of London 1787; a poor scholar, he yet wrote some popular books, especially a "Summary of Christian Evidences," and "Lectures on St. Matthew's Gospel"; he posed as a Sabbatarian and an advocate of the abolition of slavery.