It was a Sunday evening in December in London, and people began to filter into church for the evening service. A young girl entered, accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law. They quickly found a seat. 

Many people had praised the preaching at the morning service; however, this young lady was coming primarily to please her sister and brother-in-law. The reports she had heard earlier of the preacher’s homely appearance and country manners did not fit her idea of propriety for such an important pulpit. Sure enough, when a country-dressed lad with a blue and white spotted handkerchief entered the pulpit, the girl was shocked. She was actually so distracted by his simple attire and demeanor that she didn’t hear at all the sermon that the young preacher delivered!

Mr. Olney, her brother-in-law, however, was highly pleased with the preacher’s sermon. Thus, she continued to attend the services for the sake of the Olneys. Little did she know what lay ahead for her regarding this preacher. His name was Charles Spurgeon. She was Miss Susannah Thompson, destined to be this young pastor’s wife in God’s timing!

Over the course of several weeks, the sermons of Charles Spurgeon convicted Susannah of her disinterest in the things of God. She had made a profession of faith a year earlier, but she had grown cold toward spiritual matters and lacked being active in service for the Lord. She sought counsel from Mr. Olney, a fine and Godly man. Unbeknownst to her, Mr. Olney shared her spiritual burdens with Pastor Spurgeon. Susannah was then surprised to receive a gift from the new pastor—a copy of The Pilgrim’s Progress. 

This book by John Bunyan had been a spiritual help to Spurgeon. The pastor passed it on to the troubled young Susannah. She found great comfort in the book, and, as she later remarked, “I do not think that my beloved had at that time any other thought concerning me than to help a struggling soul heavenward; but I was greatly impressed by his concern for me, and the book became very helpful as well as precious. By degrees, though with much trembling, I told him of my state before God; and he gently led me, by his preaching, and by his conversations, through the power of the Holy Spirit to the cross of Christ for the peace and pardon my weary soul was longing for.” As her trust and obedience to Christ grew, so did her happiness.

During the following months, Charles Spurgeon and Susannah Thompson developed a sincere friendship. She was unaware of the pastor’s growing love for her, and she was quite surprised when, at an event that they attended together with several friends, he made known his interest in her. Not long afterward, the couple was engaged, and her joy was overflowing. She “praised and thanked God with happy tears for His great mercy in giving me the love of so good a man.”

Miss Thompson had lessons to learn during her engagement to Spurgeon. With the popularity of her fiancé increasing, he became a busy man, engrossed in sermon preparation and burdened with the responsibility of caring for men’s souls. 

On one occasion, as the couple went to church together, in the crowd he forgot she was with him, and he entered singly through a different door! Susannah became angry and turned and ran back home to spout out her indignation to her mother. It was a tense moment, but she had a wise mother. Mrs. Thompson advised her daughter to realize the importance of the work God had called the pastor to do, and never to hinder him in that work. With this prudent counsel, the mother helped her daughter see the folly of her anger. Susannah repented, and the young pastor came rushing to the house soon after, calling for his dear “Susie.” The tempest was sweetly resolved and replaced by a loving peace between them. 

Susannah Thompson never forgot that lesson. She purposed in her heart never again to place demands on her beau’s attention when he was engaged in the Lord’s work. With this conviction in her heart, she was well prepared to be the pastor’s wife. With a simple and sweet love for her fiancé, she held nothing against him and prayed that God would use him all the more. He, in turn, had a deep and tender love for her, and it grew even deeper when he saw her faithfulness and forgiveness. This steady, true affection between them never faded throughout their lives.

After their marriage, they lived together very happily. Their home was modest, and means were tight in their early years because of their sacrifices to help other young men train to be pastors. Through this giving of their own funds, the Pastor’s College was born. Susannah Spurgeon cheerfully assisted her beloved husband in this endeavor, and this developed in her what she called “a motherly interest in the college” and in the young men preparing to be pastors. This compassion for other pastors was only the beginning of what would later become Susannah Spurgeon’s project called the “Book Fund,” as well as the other ministries that sprang up from the Spurgeon home. 

Charles Spurgeon was still busy and getting busier. His dear Susie was his companion in his joys, supporter of his work, and comforter in his sorrows. In turn, he was her spiritual guide and teacher as he took the time to explain things of the Bible to her; he also asked her to read books aloud to him as he studied for his sermons. She grew in her Christian faith under his loving teaching. Spurgeon was never too busy with his preaching to care for the spiritual needs of his wife. To Susannah, Charles was “the best man on God’s earth.”

Susannah Spurgeon often accompanied her husband in his travels across the continent of Europe, until her health took a sudden decline, and she could no longer accompany him. This separation was a bitter affliction for her, but instead of complaining, she bore it with grace. She trusted that God would work more Christian character into her life because of it. When her husband was away, she was careful to teach the Scriptures and edifying hymns to their two sons, Charlie and Thomas. She would set one twin on each side of her on the piano bench and sing hymns with them, teaching them to love the Lord in heart and voice!

An opportunity of service for God’s Kingdom arose while she was afflicted with poor health. At the publication of the first volume of Lectures to My Students, Susannah said, “I wish I could place it in the hands of every minister in England.” Her husband Charles asked her, “Then why not do so; how much will you give?” She was taken aback! After considering his question for a moment, she went to her bedroom and pulled out a stash of coins she had been carefully collecting over the years. This little stash covered the first one hundred copies to be printed! Thus began her life’s work that brought joy and assistance to many pastors, and great joy to her own heart.The project filled her long, weary days with purpose, and Spurgeon was glad as well as thankful for the good work she performed through the Book Fund.

Charles Spurgeon’s own health was steadily declining also. For many years, he had been spending the winters away from cold, dreary London. Instead, he would stay the winter on the southern coast of France, in Menton. He often desired his beloved Susie to be with him, as any separation was painful to them. But her own health was not sufficient enough for her to go with him. 

One autumn, however, her health was miraculously restored enough that she could travel! Their long-cherished dream of going together to Menton was fulfilled. He showed her at last all his favorite places there, and he took her on his favorite walks. For three happy months they were free from anything to mar their joy. In God’s providence, those were the last three months they spent together. Charles Spurgeon went to be with his Lord unexpectedly in January while still in Menton.

Susannah Spurgeon, with a sorrowful and broken heart, found comfort in the assurance that her husband was “with Christ, which is far better.” The deep wound of loss never quite healed. She loved her dear Charles to her dying day, often missing him and looking forward to the day when they would worship together before God’s throne. She continued with her Book Fund until her death eleven years later. In those latter years, she also wrote several profitable books of her own, including three devotional books, and helped edit and compile Charles Spurgeon’s autobiography.

When she at last went to her eternal reward, her son Thomas wrote, “Ah, mother mine, the ‘happy land’ you sang about to your little boys, the dear Redeemer to whom you pointed them, the loving husband, for another sight of whom your heart has yearned so long, the holy service, and the sacred rest of which you wrote so sweetly—all these are yours forevermore!”

Susannah is a shining example of a woman who fulfilled God’s will in being a help, meet for her husband’s needs. She herself gives the summary of her life as the wife of Charles Spurgeon: “I can see two pilgrims treading this highway of life together, hand in hand, heart linked to heart. True, they have had rivers to ford, and mountains to cross, and fierce enemies to fight, and many dangers to go through; but their Guide was watchful, their Deliverer unfailing, and of them it might truly be said, In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”

Sources and Further Reference:

Rhodes, Ray Jr. Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, Wife of Charles H. Spurgeon. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2018.

Rhodes, Ray Jr. Yours, till Heaven: The Untold Love Story of Charles and Susie Spurgeon. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2021.

Ray, Charles. Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 2003.