I don’t suppose the name of Mary King will mean a lot to you. She is described as a “big sturdy woman” who worked in John Swindell’s school in Newmark in Suffolk in the mid 19th century. She was known to all who worked there simply as “cook” and might have died in poverty later on, except for the charity of one who had been a shy young usher in the school. This young usher had been under deep conviction of sin and Mary helped and impressed him greatly.
Mary was a fond reader of The Gospel Standard magazine, edited by JC Philpott and read by the stronger Calvinists within the Strict and Particular Baptist denomination. (So called because they were strict in who could partake of communion and particular in their views of the purpose and extent of the Atonement.) Being unable to find a church suited to her theology, she attended a somewhat liberal chapel where (she said) she had to scratch like an old hen in a pile of rubbish looking for corn. However, she claimed to have found this mental challenge and exercise to be of spiritual value to her because it exercised her spiritual faculties and therefore warmed her spirit.
The young usher who benefitted so much from her help was CH Spurgeon...
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