John Spray (c.1768 – 21 January 1827) was an acclaimed tenor singer, known for performing works by John Andrew Stevenson, who wrote a number of pieces for him including the popular Faithless Emma.Our Portrait Gallery – Sir John A. Stevenson, Mus. Doc., The Dublin University Magazine, April 1851, p. 499.
Spray was born in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, and was a chorister there. He moved to Dublin in 1795 to work as vicar choral for the Dublin cathedrals (St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin).Leeper, Alexander. Historical Handbook to the Monuments, Inscriptions, etc. of the National Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St. Patrick Dublin, p. 78 (1891).Bumpus, John Skelton. Sir John Stevenson: a biographical sketch, p. 49-50 (1893) He received an honorary doctorate in music from Dublin University in 1821.Boydell, Barra: A History of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005), pp. 104–05.
A memorial to Spray stands in the north transept of St. Patrick's.St. Patrick's Cathedral's Close News (January 2013)
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