The Institute Of Heraldic & Genealogical Studies

General information

The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies is an independent educational charitable trust established to provide full academic facilities for training and research in the study of the history and structure of the family. It was established in Northgate, Canterbury, in 1961 by Cecil Humphery-Smith.

Set in its own grounds in a charming property dating from the thirteenth century, the Institute arranges courses of instruction leading to qualifications in genealogy and other subjects auxiliary to history. There is a graded scheme of qualifications leading to the Licentiateship of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (LHG).

The Institute is famed for its Library, especially the Heraldic collection, and for its publications including the celebrated Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers

Our renowned Correspondence Course in Genealogy was established to train professional genealogists; most of our students, however, simply want to trace their own family histories as well as possible. The Correspondence Course is available world-wide by post, and has also been available on-line since 2004.