Samuel P. Bancroft (1846-1929) was a resident of Lynn and Swampscott, Massachusetts. He studied with Mary Baker Eddy in 1870, becoming an active member of the Christian Scientist Association. In 1874, he set up his practice in the Cambridgeport neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, advertising as a "Scientific Physician." He returned to Swampscott in early 1875 because of financial pressure and family obligations. Bancroft was also a charter member of the Church of Christ (Scientist) and the Massachusetts Metaphysical College. He was removed as a director of the Metaphysical College at the second annual meeting in May 1882, ending his involvement with Christian Science. Later in life he returned to Cambridge, living with his family and working as treasurer of a large perfume company in Boston, Massachusetts. Bancroft's Mrs. Eddy As I Knew Her in 1870 (1923) is one of the most important reminiscences of Eddy's early years as a practitioner and teacher of Christian Science.

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