1834:        Born June 19 in Kelvedon, Essex, approximately 45 miles NE of downtown London.

1835:        Went to live in Stambourne with his grandparents, James and Susannah until the age of 10.

1845:        Prophetic visit from missionary Richard Knill

1850:        Conversion at Artillery Street Primitive Methodist Church, January 6.

1851:        Preached his first sermon in Teversham, thanks to some trickery from Bishop Vinter.

1851:        Becomes pastor of a church in Waterbeach, approximately five miles outside of Cambridge. (That’s right–at 17 years old!)

1854:        Voted in as pastor of the historic New Park Street Chapel, April 19, exactly two months shy of his 20th birthday. 

1856:        Married Susannah Thompson (1832-1903), January 8. Ten months later, twin boys arrived: Charles (d. 1926) and Thomas (d. 1917).

1856:        Surrey Gardens Disaster, October 19.

1857:        Begins his Pastors’ College.

1857:        Featured speaker at a national fast-day service. Preached to 23,654 in attendance without amplification.

1859:        Foundation stone laid for the Metropolitan Tabernacle near Elephant and Castle. Last service at Surrey Gardens, December 11.

1864:        Preaches controversial sermon on baptismal regeneration.

1865:        Begins his monthly magazine, The Sword and the Trowel.

1867:        Stockwell Orphanage for boys opens.

1879:        Stockwell Orphanage for girls opens.

1887:        Spurgeon publishes an article in his magazine on the “downgrade” of his Baptist denomination. He leaves the denomination a year later.

1891:        Preaches his last sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, June 7.

1892:        Dies in Mentone, France, January 31. Buried in Norwood Cemetery February 11. He was 57 years old. 

Recommended sources to learn more about Spurgeon:

Thomas Briemaier, Tethered to the Cross: The Life and Preaching of Charles H. Spurgeon.

Arnold Dallimore, Spurgeon: A Biography. This is a great place to start. 

Peter Morden, C.H. Spurgeon: The People’s Preacher. Morden is a first-rate scholar of Spurgeon who has penned numerous books on various avenues of Spurgeon’s life and ministry.

Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students and An All-Around Ministry. Both of these books contain Spurgeon’s lectures to his Pastors’ College, where he lets his hair down, if you will. 

Tom Nettles, Living by Revealed Truth: The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. This is a well-researched, in-depth book on the subject. If you want to dig deeper, go here.

Ray Rhodes, Jr., Yours, Til Heaven: The Untold Love Story of Charles and Susie Spurgeon. In an age where marriages of pastors and their wives are under duress, how nice it is to read a book about a successful marriage in the midst of a busy and successful ministry. (Rhodes is coming out with a new biography that I hope you’ll look for.) 

Spurgeon.org: Here is the digital library under the umbrella of the Spurgeon Library of Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City