Dame Alice Owen: wealthy widow

The map shows some of the fields outside the City of London. One of the children who played in them was a girl called Alice Wilkes.

One day Alice and her young servant stopped to watch a cow being milked. Nearby some archers were practising and suddenly a stray arrow flew across the field. It pierced right through Alice's hat, but luckily she was unhurt. She made a vow that when she was rich enough, she would do something for others in thanks for this miraculous escape.

When Alice grew up, she married three times. After the death of her third husband, Judge Thomas Owen, she was wealthy enough to fulfil her vow. Now known as Alice Owen, she bought some land in Islington to build a school for 30 boys and almshouses for poor widows. Three iron arrows were fixed to one of the walls of the school as a reminder of her narrow escape. She provided enough money for the school to be funded even after her death.

Today, Dame Alice Owen's School has moved to Hertfordshire. The school is still supported by the Dame Alice Owen Foundation.

Modern photographic print taken of the copperplate map of the City of London around 1559, detail

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