page_title: Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This building is situated next to the High Courts on the Esplanade.
context_page_description: Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is also referred to as Government Law College or GLC, Chennai. Established in 1891, it is a prestigious institution that produced several legal luminaries of the 20th century. It was renamed in 1990, as Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, by the Government of Tamil Nadu in commemoration of the birth centenary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the father of Indian constitution. In 1997, the Government of Tamil Nadu passed an Act which brought the college under the wings of the newly established Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, splitting the college from the University of Madras. The College stands neglected ever since due to lack of funds and several internal politics.
context_section_description: The genesis of Legal Education in Madras can be traced to the informal law classes conducted by Mr. George Norton, Advocate General of Madras State (1827-1853) in his house in the form of conversations in the early 19th century. In 1852, at the direction of Sir Henry Eldred Pottinger, the Governor of Madras during that period, a Government High School was expanded into the Presidency College, Chennai. Mr. John Bruce Norton, was appointed as the first Professor of law in 1855, who delivered his lectures at the Presidency College, Chennai. Till 1884, there was only one Professor of Law in the Presidency College, Chennai. In order to supplement lectures by tutorials, a second Professor was appointed in 1884 and to him, the tutorial work was entrusted. The Scheme was put on trial for two years and it proved a success. So it was continued for two more years from 1 January 1886.
  Mr. H.B. Grigg, the Director of Public Instruction, who evinced keen interest in improving the status of legal education in Madras, sent a proposal to the Government for setting up a Central Law College in Madras. The Government concurred with Mr. Grigg that changes were necessary in the arrangements for Law Instruction and that an independent institution should be established. In 1885, Mr. Justice T. Muthuswamy Iyer also gave his warm support to the proposal. The Proposal was sanctioned by the Secretary of State, on the advice of the Council of Legal Studies (Education) in London and the Law College was established as an independent institution under the control of the Director of Public instruction. Mr. Reginald, A. Nelson, the first Principal, entered upon his duties on 2 May 1891.
  Thus, the Law College came into existence. For seven and a half years after birth, it had no habitation of its own and the College was housed at the Senate House of the University of Madras. A project to place the new institution as near the High Court as possible led to the selection of a site for erecting a structure to the west of the High Court building. The building structure of the Law College was designed by Mr.Henry Irwin, the Government Architect and the Law College moved into that building on 9 January 1899. As a natural consequence of gaining a building of its own, the Law College was converted into a full time institution.
  The Diamond Jubilee of Madras Law College was celebrated on 14 March 1952. P. V. Rajamannar, the first Indian to become the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, presided over the function.
  In 2018, the Law College was split into two different campuses and moved to different campuses as the building structure which housed the college for more than 100 years, was found to be damaged and had a risk of collapsing.
caption: The Law College in Madras, c. 1905
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