Anne Hillyard was a kind and generous woman. She lived during the Victorian era in England and loved many needy children of the time. She was the widow of an Anglican clergyman and when her husband died she was already self-sufficient and looking for some good way to invest funds that she possessed. It seems that “Mrs. Hillyard had asked a friend to recommend some totally reliable public figure to whom she could entrust her considerable fortune to be used for orphans. The man, though not a particular admirer of the prominent Baptist preacher, nonetheless immediately replied, “Spurgeon.”1 He was, of course, referring to Charles Haddon Spurgeon whose “remarkable ministry in London would last 38 years.”2
Anne Hillyard was “An ‘ordinary’ woman (with) an extraordinary legacy.” One article calls her “a woman the world knows little about, but who became a catalyst of change for thousands of lives.”3 “Born as Anne Field, in Warwickshire, she waited until she was 38 to marry. Her husband, Reverend John William Hillyard, was the Curate of an Anglican Church at Ingestre in Staffordshire. He died just one year after their 1841 marriage.”4
“In 1855, (a decade before Anne met Spurgeon) Charles travelled to meet George Müller, the founder of a famous orphanage in Bristol. At the conclusion of a worship service, Müller invited Spurgeon to say a few words, but he declined because he had ‘been crying all the while.’
“I never heard such a sermon in my life as I saw there.” —Spurgeon (after visiting Mueller’s orphanage)5,6
More than a decade later, this experience would help bring Anne and Charles together to provide a place where young orphans could learn and grow.
It was a “widely held misconception” that Anne received a large sum of money from her husband’s estate. In fact, she had an inheritance from an uncle before she got married.7 In 1866, Charles Spurgeon challenged his large congregation stating that we “should be doing more the Lord in this Great city.”8 Soon afterward, Anne sent a letter to Spurgeon expressing her desire to use her money to “establish… an orphanage for the training and educating of orphan boys.”9
When Spurgeon and one of his deacons, William Higgs, “called at her modest home they feared that there had been some mistake.”10 The home she lived in did not appear like the residence of someone who had large amounts of money to give to others. After the meeting, “Anne joined Spurgeon and a group of friends to establish the Stockwell Orphanage. Before its construction, she sold some of her household belongings, even the family silverware, to provide sanctuary to the first four orphan boys.”11
A month later two and a half acres of land was purchased not far from Spurgeon’s church. On September 9, 1867 the first stones of some of the buildings were laid by Charles, Anne, and two others.12 Four thousand were in attendance that day.13 “At the opening ceremony of the Orphanage, Spurgeon said of Anne: “When Mrs. Hillyard’s munificent contribution was first announced in the newspapers, people said it had been given by a duchess, but I say no, it is given by a princess—one of the blood imperial—a daughter of the King of kings. She has given it in the most unostentatious manner, desiring that her name should not be known, and I and my friends have dragged her into the light today contract to her wishes.”14
“Eventually a row of several individual homes, all connected as one continuous building, were erected. Each two-story home housed fourteen orphans and was sponsored by various donors. A dining hall, infirmary, large gymnasium and even a swimming pool were constructed as part of the expansive complex. Eventually a corresponding row of homes were built for orphan girls. The area between the two sets of orphan houses was a grass-covered playing field, edged with flowers and shrubs. 250 boys and 250 girls at a time were housed and received a well-rounded education at the orphan complex.”15,16
“Mrs. Hillyard lived for some years to rejoice in the good work which she had so successfully initiated, and her last words as she died on January 13, 1880, were, “My boys! My boys!”17,18
Charles Spurgeon died in 1892.
Long after Anne and Charles went to be with the Lord the work they started continued:
“When the Second World War had been announced in 1939 the children living at Stockwell orphanage had to be evacuated. The majority of the children were moved to St. David’s in Reigate, Surrey, where the children occupied themselves by looking after the animals there.
“In 1951 the home in Birchington, Kent, was opened and became the new children’s home for Spurgeons. By 1953 all of the children were relocated here. It remained open until 1979, when children were sent to smaller homes or foster families.”19
The ministry still exists and is now called Spurgeons Children’s Charity.20
Anne’s deep devotion to God and His kingdom helped many orphans to receive a good education and to learn about the truths of God and the love of Jesus.
Picture of Stockwell Orphanage
Picture of the entrance to the Stockwell Orphanage (Scroll down)
STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE: QUADRANGLE AND BUILDINGS
Pictures of Stockwell including the swimming pool
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This post was inspired by Pastor Jim Lee (also known as SlimJim) of The Domain for Truth blog. Pastor Jim put up a post about a devotional that states how “Children need to learn the doctrine of the Cross.” Based on a sermon, it is written by Charles Spurgeon in a style that I enjoy. I have yet to find a preacher who can use the English language as well. You can see Pastor Jim’s post HERE and you can get a free copy of the Spurgeon booklet HERE.
I made a comment on his blog and he suggested that my comment was a draft for a post. So, I elaborated a bit on the comment and here is a post relating to my comment.
Chris Reimers
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1 https://vancechristie.com/2018/09/20/a-god-directed-orphan-ministry-charles-spurgeon/
2 https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/who-is-charles-haddon-spurgeon/
3 https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/543181/An_ordinary_woman.aspx
4 Ibid.
5 https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/spurgeons-orphanage-how-one-woman-changed-the-world/
6 https://spurgeons.org/the-ordinary-christian-woman-who-left-an-extraordinary-legacy-of-love/
7 https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/543181/An_ordinary_woman.aspx
8 https://theaquilareport.com/a-god-directed-orphan-ministry-charles-spurgeon/
9 Ibid.
10 http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/misc/bio12.htm
11 https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/543181/An_ordinary_woman.aspx
12 http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/Spurgeon/
13 https://books.google.com/books?id=VuczOWOn64wC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=On+September+9,+1867+the+first+stones+of+some+of+the+buildings&source=bl&ots=wKYOv1Mz6t&sig=ACfU3U0ZjsjZRec4_-F1qkoJJ8NNZQ5ZUQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi398mlju_2AhWXG80KHRw0AroQ6AF6BAg1EAM#v=onepage&q=On%20September%209%2C%201867%20the%20first%20stones%20of%20some%20of%20the%20buildings&f=false
14 https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/spurgeons-orphanage-how-one-woman-changed-the-world/
15 https://vancechristie.com/2018/09/20/a-god-directed-orphan-ministry-charles-spurgeon/
16 https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/charles-haddon-spurgeon/
17 http://www.reformedreader.org/rbb/spurgeon/fullerton/bioch12.htm
18 https://spurgeons.org/the-ordinary-christian-woman-who-left-an-extraordinary-legacy-of-love/
19 https://spurgeons.org/about-us/our-heritage/
20 https://spurgeons.org/about-us/
Posted by Chris 
Wings of the Wind 
Giving Thanks with Charles Haddon Spurgeon
November 18, 2024For Charles Spurgeon, life was to be lived coram Deo, “in the presence of God.” Indeed, Spurgeon believed that “no joy is like the joy of Christ’s presence with his people.” A presence sweet enough to “[drown] every note of sorrow” and tune every heart “to the loudest notes of thankfulness.”
Spurgeon believed it was “a heavenly thing to be thankful.” After all, it was gratitude which “ought to teach us the divine object of grace.” Accordingly, he longed for his heart to burn with the “sacred flame of thankfulness.”
For the world being happy was a prerequisite to being grateful, but Spurgeon knew that “God’s people are always happy when they are grateful” to Him. In fact, Spurgeon was so certain he said, “We should be ten times more full of bliss if we were proportionately more full of thankfulness.”
For Spurgeon, living with thankfulness was an all-encompassing commitment. Whether for richer or for poorer, even in sickness and in health. Indeed, he would often remind his congregation that “you have received all you have from God the Father through Christ.” This truth made every enjoyment an avenue for God glorifying gratitude.
Thus, in all “our eating, our drinking,” and “social meetings” Spurgeon claimed “we should give thanks unto God the Father.” The same “Father of Lights” from whom all blessings did, and do, indeed flow.
But gracious gratitude was not to be limited by the circumstances of this life. To make his point Spurgeon reminded his congregation of the story of a poor “godly preacher,” who one evening could only offer his children a dinner consisting of “a potato and a herring.” Nonetheless, the preacher “thanked God that he had ransacked sea and land to find food for his children.” Truly, the God who fed the sparrows and the ravens would not forget his people.
Indeed, while God’s temporal provision was a sweet blessing, his eternal provision of salvation through Jesus Christ was beyond comparison. Even after pastoring for many years, Spurgeon still marveled that “God should condescend to make a covenant with man, and ordain faith in Jesus as the great way of obtaining reconciliation.”
Spurgeon believed that the substitutionary, penal, atoning death of Christ on the cross provided Christians cause for “daily adoration and hourly thankfulness.” In Spurgeon’s view, “since Jesus has loved us so well,” it was impossible not to “give to him all that we are, and all that we have.” As a result, Spurgeon challenged his church to “let your gratitude compel you to do everything for Jesus.”
There is much in life for which to be thankful. Family, friends, food, and the changing color of the fall leaves are sweet gifts to be savoured and enjoyed. But, the best gift to be thankful for is Jesus Christ. This Thanksgiving Spurgeon would have us contemplate Christ and let Christ “flood the whole of [our] faculties” with thankfulness.
From all of us at The Spurgeon Library, Blessed Thanksgiving!
Phillip Ort, Director of The Spurgeon Library
Source: https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/giving-thanks-with-charles-haddon-spurgeon/
A Short Biography of Charles Spurgeon: The Life and Times of Charles H. Spurgeon
I know I’m a bit early here but I haven’t posted for quite some time. I do have posts backed up so I hope to be more active in the near future.
May God bless each of you this Thanksgiving as we think of our great God and His amazing love.
Chris Reimers
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