Over 100 alumni and guests attended this year's Association Dinner. The event was held at The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. 

The Knights Templar were founded in 1119 and soon established a presence in London. By the later 12th century they had moved to the “New Temple”, where their round church was consecrated in 1185 and remains at the heart of the Temple today. Renowned for their international banking system, the Templars enabled pilgrims to deposit funds in one place and draw upon them safely elsewhere, an innovation thought to have attracted members of the legal profession to the Temple precinct. After the suppression of the Templars in 1308, their lands passed to the Knights Hospitaller. Lawyers, already resident as tenants, formed two societies, later known as the Inner and Middle Temples, which by 1388 were so named. Although they shared the Temple Church, the two Inns developed separate facilities for education, accommodation, and dining. Following the dissolution of the Hospitallers in 1540, the freehold passed to the Tudor Crown. Under James I, the Inner and Middle Temples were granted the freehold and royal charters, confirming their status as self-governing societies of students, barristers, and Benchers, a structure that endures today.

Despite damage in the Great Fire of 1666, and in the wars of the 20th century, the Inner Temple has been carefully restored and renewed. Today it combines historic buildings, fine gardens, and modern facilities in support of education, collegial life, worship, and hospitality, serving a membership of more than 12,000 worldwide.

Photos from the Association Dinner are available here.