Hellmuth Boys' College, London, Ontario

Description

Media Type

Image

Item Type

Photographs

Description

A black and white photograph showing the face and one side of the Collegiate Institute (Hellmuth Boys'College) with a covered shed in the background. The College with its ten acre grounds included a cricket field, gymnasium, and five's court. Opening in 1865, it advertised accommodation for 150 boarders and offered academic and commercial subjects that would prepare young men for military and commercial careers. The college under its various names was not as successful as its counterpart, the Hellmuth Ladies College. When the college failed, Bishop Hellmuth converted it into Western University in 1881 hoping to offer faculties in Divinity, the Arts, Law and Medicine. The college, in need of repair was occupied briefly but the faculties survived and grew into the University of Western Ontario. The Hellmuth Boys' College building was demolished in 1895.

Notes

The inscription at the bottom of the photograph was added in 1939. It suggests the college was located south of St. James Street whereas the city of London map from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of Middlesex, published in 1878 shows the college north of St. James Street in the block where the Church of St. John the Evangelist is now situated. The Western Archives has an historic advertisement poster, circa 1896 titled: "Choice Building Lots for Sale, Hellmuth College Property" which shows the boundaries of the property as Wellington Street on the west, St. James Street on the south, Waterloo Street on the east and Grosvenor Street on the north. Hellmuth Avenue running north/south was put through the centre of the new lots
when it was subdivided.
PG L22

Inscriptions

Hellmuth Boys' College (also known as the London Collegiate Institute and the Dufferin Boys' College). Opened in September, 1865. The founder was Dean Isaac Hellmuth, who later became second Bishop of the Diocese of Huron, on the death of Rt. Rev. Benjamin Cronyn. The College was one of the leading educational institutions of its day in Canada. Located on the block bounded by St. James, Waterloo, Oxford and Wellington Streets. About 1875.

Date of Original

ca. 1875

Dimensions