Prisca Coborn (1622-1701) was the wealthy widow of Thomas Coborn/Colbourne, a brewer in Bow who died in 1675 a couple of months after they married. In fact 1675 was an interesting year for that family. In January of that year Thomas' first wife died after giving birth to their daughter Alice. Thomas married Prisca later that year and Thomas rewrote his will to include Prisca and Alice and then he died. All in 1675! That left Prisca (who was in her fifties), looking after Alice who died aged 15 just before she was due to be married. In fact she was buried on her Wedding Day. Prisca (née Forster) established the Coborn School for Girls in Bow after she died in 1701, through the terms of her will (dated 6 May 1701).''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1'', p. 290
/ref> She also gave money to help the poor of Bow and

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. East End Talking
/ref> She was baptised at St Mary's Church, Bow on 30 August 1622. Locally, she is remembered by the street names, Coborn Road and Coborn Street, The Coborn Arms public house is not named after Prisca Coborn, that is named after Charles Coborn, an East End Music Hall singer. However, the Coborn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health is.The Coborn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health
Prisca, Alice, Thomas and Prisca's parents are all buried in

Bow Church Bow Church is the parish church of St Mary and Holy Trinity, Stratford, Bow. It is located on a central reservation site in Bow Road (part of the A11), in Bow, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. There has been a church on the same site ...

Notes

1622 births 1701 deaths {{England-bio-stub