John Arnup

Who was John Arnup?

John Douglas Arnup, OC was a Canadian judge on the Court of Appeal for Ontario, who is best known for having pioneered universal legal aid in Ontario.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Jesse H. Arnup, a Methodist minister who was Moderator of the United Church of Canada from 1945 to 1946, and Ella Maud Leeson, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Victoria College in the University of Toronto in 1932. He received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1935. He was call to the Ontario bar in 1935. He was named a King's Counsel in 1950.

He practiced law with Mason, Foulds, Davidson, Carter & Kellock until he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1970. He served until 1985.

In 1988, his book Middleton: The Beloved Judge, a biography of former justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario William Middleton, was published.

In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to his Church, to legal education in the Province of Ontario and for his work in the development of Osgoode Hall Law School".