David Wright, who is currently Principal at the IHGS in Canterbury, gave us a fascinating, illustrated talk on the Institute. He started by saying he has been a member of Kent Family History Society for nearly 50 years, his interest in genealogy having started when he was a schoolboy.
The IHGS in Northgate Canterbury is not a family history society although it was founded in in 1961 by Cecil Humphery-Smith one of the founder members of Kent Family History Society. The Institute has its own research facilities, resources and libraries and provides many courses, teaching family history and heraldry. Many of these courses moved online during the pandemic and some remain available in this format. The Institute offers a 24-module correspondence course in genealogy over 3-5 years, the first in the world.
David described the history of the premises (79 – 82 Northgate) which is home to the IHGS. It is near the site of the city’s medieval North gate which was demolished in the 19th century as it was too small to let in circus elephants! The timber-framed building is Grade II listed and was once a medieval pilgrim hostel. It has undergone many changes during its life, having had a Georgian facade and a Victorian shop-front. It also has a massive garden to the rear which is overlooked by the Cathedral’s Bell Harry Tower.
The building houses 7 rooms of extensive libraries containing nearly 40,000 items; much of this material is unique. There is a large range of Kentish documents, wills and deeds and a huge range of research material including Debrett’s and Burke’s peerages. There is a county library covering all English counties, plus hearth tax and poll tax records along with street and trade directories for the whole country. Material concerning Scotland, Wales and Ireland are housed in another room. The Heraldry library is world-renowned and some of its information is now available on Ancestry. The Institute is hoping in the future to have a second-hand book department with an online index of books available to buy.
IHGS also provides education in family history with a large range of distance learning courses and a good range of Zoom talks on, for example, palaeography and heraldry. The distance learning courses are affordable, accessible and accredited. You can enrol at anytime and they are very flexible with no fixed timetable so you can study at your own pace with expert tutors.
Members of IHGS and students can visit the Institute library for free while non-members pay £5 for a half-day or £10 for a full day to undertake their own research.
The library is open, by appointment only, on Mondays and Tuesdays from 10am – 4pm. Visits for small groups can be arranged by liaising with IHGS and much more information is available on their website.
David’s talk shone a light on the immense range and depth of material available at the Institute and how fortunate we are to be so close to it.
Lesley Smith, Deal Branch Secretary
of Kent Family History Society.