The following priests have served the parish:-
The Parish of Woodbridge
Father Charles Reilly
Sacred Heart parish, Leighton Buzzard, 1895-1900.
Served at Woodbridge until his retirement in 1911.
He died on 28th February, 1916.
Father Charles Duchemin
Ordained in Cambridge in 1918. Appointed to the Woodbridge mission and Chaplain to the Carmelite nuns in 1921. He left Woodbridge in July 1922. Rector of the Pontifical Beda College in Rome for thirty-three years. Died 6th December, 1965. Buried at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Mortlake, London.
Father Ernest Shebbeare
Woodbridge: July 1922 to December 1935. A priest of the Archdiocese of Southwark.
Died 21st January, 1936. Age 66. Buried at Woodbridge.
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives. c.1930.
Father Shebbeare's grave in Woodbridge cemetery.
The headstone was restored in 2012. O Crux Ave, Spes Unica.
Father Edgar Hardwick
At Woodbridge, 1936.
Rector of St. George's, Shefford, 1943-1945.
Coldham Cottage, Lawshall, Bury St. Edmunds, 1949-1955.
Died 15th October, 1971.
Father Laurence Nicholson
Served curacies in Slough, Wellingborough and Norwich (senior curate).
Woodbridge: 21st July, 1936 to March 1941.
Died 15th December, 1969 at St. Mary's parish, Ipswich.
Canon John Henry Thomson
Born 7th April, 1907. Stanley Road, Liverpool.
Ordained at Oscott College, Birmingham, 31st May, 1931.
Incardinated to the Diocese of Northampton.
St. John's Cathedral, Norwich, 1931 to 1941.
Woodbridge, March 1941 to July 1949.
Bedford, 1949.
Retired from Aldeburgh parish, 1967.
Died 25th December, 1968. Age 61.
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives. 5th April, 1941
Father Donald Hillier
Woodbridge: 1949 to 1962.
Aldeburgh: 1962.
Retired from March parish, 1977.
Died 6th April, 1980.
Father James Sloan
Woodbridge: September 1962 to 1973.
Southwold: 1973-1984.
Retired to Leigh-on-Sea.
Died 18th October, 1988.
Father Francis Sam Leeder
Woodbridge: September 1973 to July 1981.
Retired from St. Pancras's parish, Ipswich, August 2019.
Died 13th February, 2022. Age 83.
The Parish of Woodbridge with Framlingham
The care of the Mass Centre at Framlingham was officially annexed to the Parish of Woodbridge in July 1981.
Father Anthony Seeley
Woodbridge: July 1981 to May 1986.
Retired from St. John's Cathedral, Norwich, 2009.
Died 7th December, 2011. Age 76.
Photo: Mrs. Scrutton.
Mgr. John Drury
At Woodbridge: September to December 1986.
Retired from Kirtling, 2004.
Died 25th July, 2005. Age 70.
Buried at Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, Eire.
Father Christopher Cunliffe
January to April 1987
Father Francis Selman
M.A. (Oxon), Mag.Theol. (Innsbruck), Ph.L. (Maynooth), Ph.D. (Cantab)
Tutor in Philosophy at Oscott College, Birmingham, since 2016.
At Woodbridge: April to September 1987
Father Peter Wynekus, K.O.N.
(Knight of Orange-Nassau)
October 1987 to 2001.
Died 20th December, 2012. Age 85. Buried at sea.
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives. 11th September, 2003.
Father Richard Healey
2001 to 2002
Photo: catholicfakenham.org.uk
Father Tom Fenlon, S.M.A.
Appointed: May 2002. Retired: June 2008
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives. 2002.
Father Ivan Rudkin
September 2008 to September 2009.
Died 24th September, 2009, age 66.
Buried at St. John's Cathedral, Norwich.
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives
Father Christopher Smith, Parochial Administrator.
During the interregnum of 2009-2010 the parish was administered from Aldeburgh.
Father Edmund Eggleston, M.A.
Appointed and Inducted, September 2010
Father Edmund Eggleston, at Saint Thomas's Church, Woodbridge.
Photo: 13th July, 2013.
Ordinations at Woodbridge
Canon Michael Hazell - Ordained 13th July, 1958.
Secretary to the Bishop of Northampton, 1961-1967.
Canon of Northampton Cathedral, 1976. Provost, 2003-2005.
Died 25th March, 2020. Buried at Woodbridge.
Father Adrian Gates - Ordained 21st July, 1990.
Permanent Deacons serving the parish
Deacon Mike Vipond, Ordained 25th May, 1991.
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives. 2002.
Deacon Peter Coates
Deacon of the Diocese of Chisinau, Moldova.
Served at Woodbridge, 2005-2020. Died 23rd June, 2020. Buried at Woodbridge.
Obituary: https://www.rcdea.org.uk/tributes-paid-to-deacon-peter-coates-from-woodbridge/
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives. December 2012.