"Spooner was an albino, small, with a pink face, poor eyesight, and a head too large for his body. His reputation was that of a genial, kindly, hospitable man.
Spooner seems to have been something of an absent-minded professor. He once invited a faculty member to tea "to welcome our new archaeology Fellow." "But, sir," the man replied, "I am our new archaeology Fellow." "Never mind," Spooner said, "Come all the same."
Spooner has become famous for his "spoonerisms", funny mis-statements that result from the transposition of initial consonants. Few if any of his own spoonerisms were deliberate, and many of those attributed to him are apocryphal. Spooner himself hated the reputation he gained for getting his words muddled."
Oh man! hahaha.
I had heard of spoonerisms before, but I can't remember exactly what they are off the top of my head. But what you described about William Spooner sounds familiar.