O'Tink, I cannot remember a whole lot of Spooner's original story...but I do recall I first learned of him around 1980 because I can see myself now, just where I was sitting and studying...in conjunction with something about Charles Dickens and his famous Mrs. Malaprop...I like to incorporate these spoonerisms just for fun, or even sometimes to camouflage my inclination for profanity (big innocent smile).
...but I know that Spooner was a clergyman, and would spout his verbal acrobatics from his pulpit...and it was not long until his name came to designate that figure of speech! I was unable to open the TELEGRAPH link, but could get to Rooster's link...quite fascinating...
Here is what Merriam Webster has to say! ...that Spooner "lived from 1844 to 1930, often had to speak in public, but he was a nervous man and his tongue frequently got tangled up. He would say things like "a blushing crow" when he meant "a crushing blow." Spooner's letter reversals became the stuff of legend-and undoubtedly gave his listeners many a laugh. By1900 his name had inspired the term spoonerism, which lives on to this day."
Oh, and that the first known usage of the word SPOONERISM was in 1892...