Charles Spurgeon

Charles married Susannah, who was the daughter of Robert Thompson of Falcon Square, London. Charles was gifted with two twin boys, Thomas and Charles in 1857.

Charles had a history of falling sick and so did his wife. He was diagnosed with a number of diseases which included rheumatism, gout, and Bright’s disease.

He succumbed to death in 1892 in Menton, near France. He was buried at West Norwood Cemetery in London.

Charles was born on 19 June 1834 in Kelvedon, Essex. He spent his childhood and early teenage years in Stambourne, Colchester, and Newmarket.

He accidently turned to a Primitive Methodist Chapel in Colchester. This happened all by chance. He was on his way to someplace else, when a snow storm cut short his journey and his life was impacted heavily by a salvation message that read ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else’.

He was admitted to the Church at Newmarket in 1850. He was baptised on 3rd May 1850 in the river Lark, at Isleham. At the end of the same year he moved to Cambridge and became a Sunday school teacher.

Charles preached his first sermon in 1850-51 in a cottage at Teversham. He was actually filling in for a friend.

In the same year, Charles was appointed as a pastor of a small Baptist church at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, where he published his first literary work.

In 1854, when Charles was barely 19 years he was called to pastorate on to the largest Baptist Congregation in London. This was called the New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

Charles befriended many pastors which included William Garrett Lewis of Westbourne Grove Church, an older man who along with Spurgeon went on to found the London Baptist Association. Very soon Charles became famous as a preacher at Park Street.

His first sermon at ‘New Park Street Pulpit’ was published soon. Eventually his sermons were published every week in print.

Charles published his first literary work, a ‘Gospel tract’ which was written in 1853.

His collection of worship songs called ‘Our Own Hymn Book’ published in 1866 was a compilation of Isaac Watts's Psalms and Hymns that had been originally selected by John Rippon, a Baptist predecessor to Spurgeon.

His book ‘The Worldless Book’ is used as a teaching tool to teach illiterate people about the Gospel message.