Fonds AFC7 - London Law School fonds

The formation of a law school in London, Ontario was first proposed in 1885, when a group of young men studying to become attorneys decided they could benefit from lectures given by local practicing judges and lawyers. The London Law School was then founded in November, 1885 in conjunction with the Middlesex Law Association.

Regular lectures were given every Monday, Wednesday and Friday by some of the London area's most prominent lawyers and judges, including David Mills, William R. Meredith, and George C. Gibbons. The inaugural lecture was delivered on December 4, 1885.

The statute to affiliate London Law School with Western University was initially rejected by Ontario education minister George William Ross, but the statute did eventually pass on its second attempt. Despite the statute having been passed, the Law Society of Upper Canada refused to recognize the exams written at London Law School as being equivalent to their own. The number of enrolments quickly dwindled, and by 1887 there were only two students registered for lectures. Lectures were cancelled permanently late in 1887. A small group of men attempted to keep the London Law School functional; in 1889, however, the Law Society of Upper Canada passed a regulation requiring all law students to complete three years of work at Toronto's Osgoode Hall law school. The London Law School officially ceased operations in 1889. The University of Western Ontario did not have a law school again until 1959, when the Faculty of Law was established.

Some of the students who were registered with the London Law School included Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., Newton W. Rowell, T.W. Scandrett, Alexander Purdom, and A.D. Scatcherd.