G. Holden (Godfrey Holden) Pike

Born in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, in June 1836, Godfrey Holden Pike was an English writer and journalist whose work moved between history, biography, and popular religious writing. He is especially remembered for his long association with the preacher C. H. Spurgeon and for books that explored evangelical life and Victorian society.

In 1872, after meeting Spurgeon a few years earlier, he became sub-editor of The Sword and the Trowel, Spurgeon’s magazine, and held the post for about twenty years. During that time and beyond, he wrote numerous articles and a steady stream of books, including Ancient Meeting Houses, The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Beneath the Blue Sky, Oliver Cromwell and His Times, From Slave to College President, and The Life and Work of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

He was married to Ellen, and they had three children. Pike died in Edmonton, Middlesex, in late 1910, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both his interest in Christian history and his knack for making real people and public movements readable for a broad audience.