1860 CHARLES H. & SUSANNAH SPURGEON. Charming Carte de Visite of the Pair.
1860 CHARLES H. & SUSANNAH SPURGEON. Charming Carte de Visite of the Pair.
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I've always loved this early and rather unusual carte de visite photograph of Charles Haddon and Susannah Spurgeon. Here, rather newly married, they had no idea what was ahead of them. She had been raised in privilege, he in poverty. The two met after she was brought to saving faith in one of his services as a very young preacher.
Their life would soon become more difficult. Still a young couple, after the birth of their second child, she suffered a life-long medical condition that left her often bed-ridden. It also left her unable to conceive and, it seems, likely incapable of sexual intimacy.
It wasn’t what they expected. And yet, he loved her, loved her like mad, until his death in 1892. That’s it. The end.
It's a beautiful story. You never know what you’re going to get in marriage; no one does. That’s why you do it together, to be there for each other in the “not what we expected” and the “you never know” parts.
Anyway, issued by Ashford Brothers & Company of London, c.1860. Good + condition with some light handling in the margins. Else, quite a charming and well-preserved example.
See the National Portrait Gallery of England for a similar example.