THE LEATHERSELLERS
A SHORT HISTORY
04
Despite all the upheavals, the Company continued to improve the Hall. The former nuns’ dormitory had become the banqueting hall, while the chapter house had been adapted as the Court meeting room, both decorated with oak panelling and fine decorative plaster ceilings. An enormous kitchen was added, its size reflecting the scale of the entertainments on offer. Outside, Liverymen with time on their hands could spend an hour or two in the bowling alley, or stroll through the gardens lying to the east of the Hall. A frequent visitor to the Hall at this time was Abraham Colfe, Vicar of Lewisham. Through his connection with the Clerk, William Manby, Colfe invited the Leathersellers’ Company to be Trustee of his extensive charitable trust, which included the management of a boys’ grammar school in Lewisham. Originally established in Elizabethan times, Abraham Colfe re-founded the school in 1652, and it came into the Company’s care after his death five years later. ...COLFE INVITED THE LEATHERSELLERS’ COMPANY TO BE TRUSTEE OF HIS EXTENSIVE CHARITABLE TRUST, WHICH INCLUDED THE MANAGEMENT OF A BOYS’ GRAMMAR SCHOOL IN LEWISHAM.
Abraham Colfe’s probate will of 1658, pictured above, entrusted his school and charitable trust to the care of the Leathersellers’ Company in perpetuity.
Survey and terrier showing the Company’s corporate and trust estates in the parish of Lewisham and the manor of Sydenham, 1723. The trust estate shown was owned by the Company in its capacity as Colfe’s trustee and the income from these lands was used to support Colfe’s School.
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator