Place Name
Benjamin Colls (November 4, 1813 – August 25, 1878), was a painter and director who founded the building contractors Messrs Coll & Sons in 1840, later amalgamated with George Trollope & Sons of Streatham, and much much later became Trafalgar House, one of the country’s largest construction firms. Projects undertaken by the company and its predecessors included: Her Majesty’s Theatre completed in 1869 and St Philip’s Church, Battersea completed in 1870. After his death the company, was passed to his sons (John) Howard (1846 – 1910) and William (1842 – 1893). They went on to complete Claridge’s Hotel in 1897, the Baltic Exchange completed in 1903, and the Debenhams Headquarters in Wigmore Street completed in 1908. Colls, who lived at 246 Camberwell Road, was also a Camberwell vestryman from 1863 and Guardian of the Poor. This road was laid out in 1874 and Colls Road School was opened on August 24, 1885.
