William Archibald Spooner

The Reverend

William Archibald Spooner
The Reverend; William Archibald Spooner
Examining Chaplain to the; Bishop of Peterborough (1902-16); Chaplain to; Archbishop Archibald Campbell Tait ; (from 1878 to 1882);
	Spooner in 1924
Church	Church of England
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	Oxford (1872–1902); Peterborough (1902-16);
Other posts	Warden of New College, Oxford (1903-24)
Previous posts	Dean of New College, Oxford (1876–1889); fellow (1867), lecturer (1868), tutor (1869),;
Orders
Ordination	1872 (as deacon); 1875 (as priest); by John Fielder Mackarness;
Personal details
Born	William Archibald Spooner; 22 July 1844; London, England,; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Died	29 August 1930 (aged 86); Oxford, England,; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Parents	Jane Lydia Wilson (mother); ; William Spooner (father);
Spouse	Frances Wycliffe Goodwin (m. 1878)
Children	William Wycliffe; Frances Catharine; Rosemary; Ellen Maxwell; Agnes Mary;
Profession	Priest, Academician
Education	Oswestry School
Alma mater	New College, Oxford
	Known for spoonerisms
40th Warden of New College, Oxford
	In office; 1903–1924
Preceded by	James Edwards Sewell
Succeeded by	Herbert Fisher

William Archibald Spooner (22 July 1844 – 29 August 1930) was a British clergyman and long-serving Oxford don. He was most notable for his absent-mindedness, and for supposedly mixing up the syllables in a spoken phrase, with unintentionally comic effect. Such phrases became known as spoonerisms, and are often used humorously. Many spoonerisms have been invented and attributed to Spooner.