Abraham Colfe

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Abraham Colfe, who was the Vicar of Lewisham from 1610 to 1657, founded Colfe's School, a reading (primary)or Latin school and six almshouses for the inhabitants of Lewisham. The school later came to bear his name.

Colfe declared that the aim of the School was to provide an education for "pupils of good wit and capacity and apt to learn", reflecting the School's emphasis on sound learning and academic achievement since the earliest times. Colfe's original vision was to educate the children of "the hundred of Blackheath" and although today our pupils travel to the School from all parts of London, a strong sense of local community remains, with most of the pupils coming from the four boroughs, which surround the school.

One of Abraham Colfe's wisest moves was to invite the Leathersellers' Company, one of the oldest of the city Livery Companies, to be the Trustee of his will. Links between the School and the company are strong. The official Visitor to the School is H.R.H. Prince Michael of Kent.