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COLFE'S SCHOOL
350 Years of Education
Colfe’s School and the Leathersellers’ Company, 1652-2005
1372 First mention of the “good men” of the mistery
or craft of leathersellers of London.
1444 Royal Charter of Incorporation granted to the mistery of
leathersellers by Henry VI.
1543 The Leathersellers purchase the former priory of St Helen
Bishopsgate.
1580 Abraham Colfe born in Canterbury on 7
th August.
1604 The Leathersellers’ Company is granted a new Charter by James I,
confirming its status.
1610 Colfe becomes vicar of Lewisham.
1626 Colfe first proposes the foundation of a grammar school in
Lewisham.
1635 The Leathersellers’ Company agrees to become trustees of Colfe’s
School.
1652 The Free Grammar School is officially opened on Lewisham Hill on 10
th June.
1657 Abraham Colfe dies on 5
th December, aged 77.
1658 The first visitation by the Leathersellers’ Company as school
governors takes place on 6
th July.
1685 Charles II forces the surrender of the Leathersellers’ privileges and
issues a new charter (which is subsequently rejected by the Company).
1703 The Leathersellers pay for repairs to the school following a violent
storm.
1794 The school is referred to as Colfe’s Grammar School for the first
time.
1857 The terms of Colfe’s Will are reinforced under
a new scheme, preventing reforms desired by Rev Prendergast, the Headmaster.
1867 The Reverend Thomas Bramley becomes Headmaster. During his tenure,
Bramley argues for the reform of the Colfe’s foundation and the modernisation of the school,
leading to the overturning of Abraham Colfe’s will.
1885 The Abraham Colfe Club is founded.
1887 Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the new
scheme leading to the modernisation of Colfe’s School.
1890 Colfe’s School buildings are demolished, to be replaced by modern
buildings, which are funded by the Leathersellers’ Company.
1894 The Old Colfeians Football Club is founded.
1897 The School song,
Carmen Colfanum, is written by Leland Duncan with music by Frederick Leeds.
1900 The first edition of
The Colfeian is published, edited by Duncan. It is the first Old Boys magazine in the
country.
1901 The Abraham Colfe grounds are established in Horn Park.
1902 250
th anniversary
1914-1918 Many old boys join up and 124 lives are lost in the First World
War.
1920 Colfes’s accepts a grant from the Board of
Education
1930 The current school site at Lee is purchased, originally for use
as playing fields.
1931 The Abraham Colfe Club becomes the Old Colfeians.
1939-1945 At least 96 Old Colfeians are
killed during World War II.
1939 The school is evacuated to Skinners School, Tunbridge
Wells.
1941 Enemy action destroys the Leathersellers
Hall.
1944 Flying bombs destroy the “School on the Hill”; the evacuees move to
Frome.
1948 The school returns to the re-built site at
Lewisham Hill.
1952 Colfe’s Grammar School celebrates its tercentenary.
1960 Leathersellers’ sixth Hall is opened.
1963 The new school buildings in Horn Park Lane, Lee are officially opened
on 26
th November. The Parents’ Association is started.
1976 The Government abolishes London Grammar Schools; Colfe’s School
becomes independent. Girls are admitted to the sixth form for the first time.
1984-1999 Many new facilities are provided, often with funding from the
Leathersellers’ Company. These include the Beardwood Centre, the Preparatory School, the
Newton Sports’ Centre, the Hamp Library, the Pre-Prep and Nursery Schools, the Languages block and
the Sixth Form Centre.
1998 The World rugby tour takes place.
1999 The first year of co-education in the senior school.
2002 Colfe’s School celebrates its 350
th Anniversary.
2003 Beardwood Arts Centre is opened by Prince Michael of
Kent.
2005 Richard Russell becomes the 25
th Headmaster of Colfe’s School.
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