Joseph Manton-Smith and his cornet

A carte-de-visite portrait of the Baptist preacher Joseph Manton-Smith (1844-1900) with his silver cornet.

A personal friend of the Reverend Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Manton-Smith assisted CHS in establishing his orphanage at Stockwell in 1867. Manton-Smith later wrote about his life-long friendship with Spurgeon and the founding of the school in two books, published in the 1880s and 1890s, called Stray Leaves and More Stray Leaves. He also describe how he had originally been torn between his ministry and the music hall. He had appeared in fact appeared in the music halls of the East End but decided to put his musical talents to other uses, such as fundraising for the poor and for the Ragged Schools of East London.

Photographed by Passmore and Alabaster of London.