Spurgeon's Home, Beulah Hill (1880-1892)

Charles H Spurgeon

Sadly, Susannah Spurgeon was sick on and off for most of their marriage; oftentimes she was bedridden and Spurgeon himself had many years of sickness. At the end of 1869, he contracted smallpox mildly, which laid him low for a while, but the most debilitating problems he had were gout, kidney inflammation and rheumatism. He suffered from these for over twenty years and they kept him out of the pulpit for about a third of the time. They caused him a great deal of pain, and he often fell into depression. His problems probably stemmed from his extreme workload and the huge number of responsibilities he carried around on his shoulders. Apart from all the responsibilities of a church with around 5,000 members, he had the Pastors College, the Almshouses, the Orphanage, the church newspaper and many other 'tributaries' that came from the mainstream, the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Add to that all the preaching he did around the nation, mainly to raise funds, his book writing, the 66 ministries that he supervised, and he reputedly wrote 500 letters a week. He was also connected to dozens of churches, which were being led by his students. To help him, his brother was appointed head of pastoral matters, but the workload must still have been overwhelming, and something had to break. This is a problem with many gifted leaders - they overwork and die young!

I cannot help but think Spurgeon's cigar smoking did not help his health. Evidently, in his youth, smoking was considered healthy, so he might not have recognised the health concerns or the addictive nature of smoking. He was warned though, but continued smoking until the last couple of years of his life. I consider this to be a small blot on his life, but I guess it just shows he was human.

In 1880, he was persuaded to sell his house and move to a healthier area, which was less damp. So, they bought "Westwood" in Norwood. The house gave the Spurgeons much more room, and they also had nine acres of garden to enjoy. Spurgeon had many invitations, but he could not accept the majority, particularly the ones from abroad, because his responsibilities were so great at home. Many of the great and the good wanted to visit him, so his new home was a blessing for that.