Spurgeon , Rev. Thomas

- bn London 20 September 1856 d. London 20 October 1917. Trained at Pastors' College, London. Pastor and Evangelist. Churches: (N.Z.) Auckland Tabernacle 1881-89; Union Evangelist 1889-93; (U.K.) Metropolitan Tabernacle, London 1893-1915. President Union 1887/8. A powerful preacher, building what was probably the largest congregation in the Australasian colonies in the 1880s, Spurgeon struggled with indifferent health, possibly depression. Very conscious of his heritage as son of a famous father he could aggressively defend his father’s concerns, threatening withdrawal from the Union during the C.C. Brown controversy. Whilst minister at Auckland he took an active interest in new causes such as Cambridge. This enthusiasm and his gifts in communication combined well and led to great success in his time as Union Evangelist. He never returned to N.Z. after his departure in 1893, but news of his ministry was regularly reported in NZB until his retirement. Refs: Obituary: NZB December 1917, 178; W.Y. Fullerton, Thomas Spurgeon, A Biography (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1919); C. Skinner, Lamplighter and Son (Nashville: Broadman, 1984).