Stopford, Edward Adderley (1810–74), Church of Ireland clergyman, controversialist, and expert in canon law, was born 17 January 1810, second son of Edward Stopford, bishop of Meath and privy counsellor. In July 1826 he entered TCD, graduating BA in 1832. He took holy orders, and in 1844 was appointed rector of Kells and archdeacon of Meath. An energetic man with an exceptionally sharp mind, he became something of an ecclesiastical oracle to the clergy of the diocese owing to his knowledge of canon law. In 1848 he was appointed vicar general of the diocese. During the famine he played a prominent part in relief efforts and was often to be found at the sessions house in Kells, helping to give out relief supplies.
In 1852 he founded the Catholic Layman, a journal that addressed the numerous controversies between the anglican and Roman Catholic churches. He graduated MA (Dubl.) in 1855. A moderate evangelical, with the aid of the noted ecclesiastical lawyer, Archibald Stephens, he drafted a church discipline bill and had it introduced into the commons in 1854 and again in 1856, but without success; his intention was to check the spread of Puseyism. A supporter of the national board of education, he founded a national school in Kells. In 1856 he proposed that schools should retain their denominational character and that the board should only concern itself with the teaching of secular subjects and the administration of schools. In the late 1850s he watched the spread of the evangelical movement known as the ‘great revival’ with keen interest, and in 1859 criticised some of its leaders in Ulster, claiming that they were encouraging public hysteria.
In 1867 Stopford served as a member of the royal commission into the state of the Church of Ireland and, before the disestablishment of the church in 1869, was the only clergyman to meet W. E. Gladstone for discussions. While he was later criticised for this, he defended himself by stating that disestablishment was inevitable and that clergymen should endeavour to secure an amicable and workable settlement. After the passing of the disestablishment act he was a member of the general convention of the Church of Ireland that sat in 1870. In this capacity he helped draw up the church's new constitution and personally drafted the third clause of the ‘preamble and declaration’, which ensured that the Church of Ireland would remain in communion with the Church of England.
Stopford was noted for his writings and published around thirty pamphlets during the course of his career. He wrote on subjects as diverse as famine relief, canon law, education, working-class housing, and theological matters. His publications include The weapons of schism, or the way to keep up separations among Christians (1842), A report to the bishop of Meath on the state of elementary schools in the diocese (1847), The rate-screw for Ireland, considered in reference to the public works act, the relief act and the new poor law, in a letter to the marquis of Lansdowne (1847) and Subjects for thought concerning the future of the church in Ireland and how to prepare for it (1868).
A skilled craftsman, he bound his own books and constructed steam engines. He was also a noted horseman and horse-breaker. In 1871 he was awarded an honorary LLD by TCD and retired from his church positions in 1872, thereafter spending most of his time at his Dublin residence, 11 Adelaide Road. In later life he found himself in financial difficulties, due to the indiscretions of his brother, and also in poor health, having put a strain on his heart some years previously while trying to control a fractious horse. He died in Dublin, 21 April 1874, and was buried in Ardbraccan, Co. Meath.
He married (1836) Anne Duke from Co. Sligo; they had five sons and four daughters. Their eldest son was Col. John George Beresford Stopford. Their third daughter was Alice Stopford Green (qv), historian and author. There is a large collection of Stopford's papers in the Representative Church Body Library, Dublin.