Abraham Colfe

Last updated August 28, 2019

Abraham Colfe (died 1657) was vicar of Lewisham from 1610 to 1657 and a notable English philanthropist, founding Colfe's School, a reading (primary) or Latin school and five almshouses for the inhabitants of Lewisham (today, part of south-east London). The school later came to bear his name.

Lewisham is an area of south east London, England, 5.9 miles (9.5 km) south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Lewisham had a population of 60,573 in 2011.

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Colfe's School is a co-educational independent day school in Horn Park in the London Borough of Greenwich, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The official Visitor to the school is HRH Prince Michael of Kent.

Prince Michael of Kent, is a member of the British royal family. He is a paternal first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, being a grandson of King George V and Queen Mary. He is currently 48th in the line of succession to the British throne, but at the time of his birth was seventh in the line of succession.

Colfe's will

According to Daniel Lysons' account in Environs of London (1796):

Daniel Lysons (1762–1834) was an English antiquarian and topographer, who published amongst other works the four-volume Environs of London (1792–96). He collaborated on several works with his antiquarian younger brother Samuel Lysons (1763–1819).

"By his will he gives the following directions relating to this school: that it shall be for the education of thirty-one boys, five of whom shall be of the parish of Lewisham; ten of Greenwich, eight of Deptford, one of Lee, one of Charlton, three of Eltham, and three of Woolwich, to be chosen in the several parishes at a public meeting of the chief parishioners. In addition to this number, every incumbent minister in the hundred of Blackheath, and also the minister of Chislehurst, to have the privilege of sending their sons to the school for education, but no minister to have more than one son in the school at a time. The master is to be examined and approved by the head masters of Westminster, St. Paul's, and Merchant Taylors' schools, by the president of Sion College, the ministers of the hundred of Blackheath, and the minister of Chislehurst; and to be chosen by them, in conjunction with the wardens of the Leathersellers' Company, and the lord of the manor...."^[1]

Colfe's will also made provisions for scholarships from the school to allow able pupils to study at Oxford or Cambridge University.

Foundation of the almshouses

"Mr. Colfe directed also, by his will, that a certain sum of money should be laid out in building five alms-houses, (to be begun in the month of April 1662,) for poor, godly householders of this parish, 60 years of age or upwards, and able to say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. ... These alms-houses are on the west side of the village of Lewisham, to the south of the church. Over the door are the arms of the founder, and of the Leathersellers' Company."^[1]

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References

Larminie, Vivienne. "Colfe, Abraham". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5900.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

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Notes

1 2 From: 'Lewisham', The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent (1796), pp. 514-36. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45489. Date accessed: 3 October 2007.

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[Lysons-1] 1 2 From: 'Lewisham', The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent (1796), pp. 514-36. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45489. Date accessed: 3 October 2007.