James Dodd

In the Dark cloister area of Westminster Abbey, leading to the Little Cloister, is a wall tablet to James William Dodd. He was buried in the east cloister on 5th September 1818. The Latin inscription can be translated:

To James William Dodd, who for thirty four years performed with consummate praiseworthiness the duties of sub-praeceptor. The pupils of Westminster School who lodge under this roof erected this tablet, in their grief. He died on 29 August 1818 in the 57th year of his age

He was a son of James Dodd, a celebrated actor, and was at Westminster School from 1770-1774 before going on to Cambridge university. In 1784 he returned to the School as an usher (master) and was also vicar of Swineshead in Lincolnshire and North Runcton in Norfolk. He married Ann Whitaker at St Margaret's Westminster on 16th May 1811 and their children were Charles, Ann, Susan, Frances, Martha and Edmund.