Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born in Kelvedon, Essex in 1834. At the age of twenty Spurgeon became a Baptist pastor at the New Park Street Chapel in London. Spurgeon was such an impressive preacher that the chapel was unable to accommodate all those who wanted to hear him. It was therefore decided to build him a much larger chapel and in 1859 work began on the Metropolitan Tabernacle. When it was finished in 1861 it provided seating for 6,000 people. Spurgeon also became known to a wider audience after the publication of his book John Ploughman's Talk in 1869.

In 1887 Spurgeon left the Baptist Union because no action was taken against people in the church charged with fundamental errors. Charles Haddon Spurgeon died in 1892.