Rev. William Archibald Spooner was born on July 22, 1844, in London, England.

He was a clergyman. He was educated at Oswestry School and New College, Oxford. He remained at New College, Oxford, for over sixty years, serving as a fellow (1867), lecturer (1868), tutor (1869), dean (1876–1889), and warden (1903–1924). He lectured on ancient history, divinity, and philosophy. He was most notable for his absent-mindedness and for supposedly mixing up the syllables in a spoken phrase with unintentionally comic effect. These phrases became known as spoonerisms.

In 1878, he married Frances (Frank) Wycliffe Goodwin (1852–1939). He died on August 29, 1930, in Headington, Oxfordshire, England.

John R. Spier (d. 1957) graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University in 1891. He served overseas in WW1. He married Annie J. Hall and they had 3 daughters, Marjorie, b. 1898, Jane, b. 1902 and Winifred b.c. 1906. Annie died in 1918 from Influenza. He later married Lil Spriggings. He practiced medicine in North Hatley, Quebec, and is buried in Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.