John Clarke Haden

On the wall of the north cloister of Westminster Abbey, near the door into the nave, is a plain stone memorial tablet to the Reverend John Clarke Haden, Minor Canon of Westminster from 1846-1869. He was a son of Thomas Haden, a surgeon of Derby. He was educated in Derby and Cambridge and was Minor Canon of St Paul's cathedral in London from 1834-1849 and also rector of Hutton in Essex from 1839-1869. His first wife was Ann Ormerod who died in 1847. His second wife was Sarah Mair and they had two sons and two daughters - John baptised in 1853 (died 1915), Algernon baptised 1855, Margaret baptised 1851 (she married Revd.Arthur Richards) and Marion baptised 1857, all at the Abbey. He was priest in ordinary to William IV and Queen Victoria and died at his home near Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. The inscription reads:

To the memory of the Revd. John Clarke Haden M.A. for twenty three years Precentor and Minor Canon of this Collegiate Church. By his ability and energy were organised the special Sunday evening services established in the nave of the Abbey under Dean Trench A.D. 1858. Born at Derby 6th May 1805. Died at Nightingales, Bucks, 29th October 1869. Buried at Chalfont St Giles. 'I was glad when they said unto me, we will go into the House of the Lord'.