#185, Edward SPOONER

Dean Spooner was descended from the Spooners of Elmdon Hall, Warwickshire. His family gave rise to the word 'Spoonerism'. His sister married Archbishop Tait of Canterbury.

A Tablet in St Bartholemew's Church reads:

To the Glory of God and in grateful memory of EDWARD SPOONER, MA, Rector of Hadleigh and Co-Dean of Bocking who fell asleep January 25th 1899, Aged 77 years.

REST ETERNAL GRANT UNTO HIM O LORD;
AND LET LIGHT PERPETUAL SHINE UPON HIM.

This Memorial Tablet erected by Parishioners and other members of the Congregation of St Bartholemew's has its appropriate place in this church, in the building of which he took so deep an interest and so active a part.

Many years prior his becoming rector of St. Mary's, Hadleigh, Suffolk, his church was painted (in 1748) by Thomas Gainsborough at the age of 21 when he was living in Sudbury having been commissioned by Dr. Tanner the current rector. The picture hung over a large chimneypiece in the rectory which was just beyond Pykenham's Gateway Tower of 1495. St Mary's stands on the site of a 9th century wooden chapel erected by King Guthrum.