The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies is an independent educational charitable trust which was founded in Northgate, Canterbury in 1961 to provide full academic facilities for training and research in the study of the history and structure of the family. It was born out of pioneering educational courses in genealogy and heraldry established at the University of London by Cecil Humphery-Smith in the late 1950s. Our premises are medieval in origin and set in their own grounds, having extensive libraries. We are particularly well renowned for our heraldic collection, recently considerably extended with the housing of the library of the Heraldry Society.