This Saturday’s Charlton Society talk – held at St Luke’s Church – is from Julian Watson and covers the life of Abraham Colfe, whose eponymous school in Lee is one of the best-known in SE London.
Julian Watson was local history librarian for the borough of Greenwich from 1969 until he retired in 2003. He worked in the Local History Room at the old Blackheath Library in St John’s Park, then at Woodlands in Mycenae Road and finally at the Greenwich Heritage Centre in Woolwich.
In retirement Julian researches and writes about the history of Greenwich and Lewisham and edits the Greenwich Historical Society Journal. He is a trustee and former chair of the Lewisham Almshouse Charity of William Hatcliffe and Abraham Colfe. He has been churchwarden and lay chair of St Mary’s Church, Lewisham – Abraham Colfe’s church. Julian has written a history of St Mary’s and continues to research its fascinating past.
Abraham Colfe’s name is well known as the founder of Colfe’s School – the only grammar school to be founded during Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate. It was founded in Lewisham but admitted boys from the whole of the Hundred of Blackheath, which included Charlton. The school was just one of his achievements. He also founded an elementary school, a public library and left money for the building of almshouses in Lewisham. An extraordinary achievement was an intense year-long battle against James I to save 500 acres of woodland in Lewisham from destruction. His wife, Margaret, provided free medical services to all in Lewisham, rich and poor.
The talk is at 2.30pm on Saturday – admission is £3 (£2 for Charlton Society members).
The Charlton Champion 