Stambourne Manse - Spurgeon childhood (1835-1840)

This is where Spurgeon lived as a boy with his grandfather.

Charles H Spurgeon was born on June 19th, 1834 in Kelvedon, Essex. His mother could not cope financially and at fourteen months, sent her son to stay with her parents at Stambourne, for the next five years. His ancestors for four generations were believers, with one, Job Spurgeon, imprisoned for attending a non-conformist meeting in the seventeenth century. His grandfather had been pastor of the Congregational church there for the last 25 years. His early upbringing devolved onto his grandparents and Aunt Anne, who were all devout Christians whose theology was of the Puritan type. His grandfather, James, was a very good preacher who led many to the Lord, and he was a man of remarkable ability, integrity and kindness. His influence on young Charles was very considerable. Charles followed him wherever he could, listening to his prayers and his preaching. When James died, aged 88, he had been pastor of the church for 54 years; he said he had not had one unhappy hour serving the people.

Charles was a very intelligent boy. At the age of three, he would go into his grandfather's library, which was full of books by Puritan theologians, and he would take a book down and look at the pictures, until the time he was able to read it. His favourite book, which he read many times, was John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. By the age of five or six, he was able to read perfectly, and he would read out passages at family worship. His grandfather would often take him along when he met with his friend the Squire, and Charles would listen carefully to the conversations that were always on Christian subjects. He had a very inquiring mind, always pushing until he found a satisfactory answer to a question he was pondering.