About Our Founder: Edward Alleyn (1566-1626) Edward Alleyn was an impresario, entrepreneur and one of the leading actors of his Globe Theatre, Alleyn was a key player during one of the most creative and innovative periods in English literary history.
He was born in Bishopsgate in 1566 to a publican father. By 1600 he had retired from acting and was the owner and manager of the Fortune Theatre, until the Queen herself insisted on his return to the stage. At the age of forty-seven, Alleyn bought the manorial estate of Dulwich from Sir Francis Calton. After contemplating the foundation of a hospital, Alleyn eventually decided to establish a now Dulwich College.