Canon Ernest Williams Adams (1862-1937) was priested in 1888 after study at Hatfield Hall, Durham (L.Th, BA, MA). He was curate at Ferry Hill, County Durham (1885-93), and St Paul’s, Bedford, before being appointed Vicar of St John’s in 1906, the post he held until his death 29 years later. He was made an honorary canon of St Edmundsbury Cathedral in 1931.
Canon Adams’ only son, Ernest Geoffrey, died of wounds in France in June 1918 aged 21. A brass plate in his memory was placed in the sanctuary of St John’s. Adams’ wife died shortly after – a consequence, it is said, of a broken heart. Parishioners and friends of Canon Adams installed a stained glass window in his honour in the west end of the north aisle.