Library | IHGS

The library of IHGS is housed in the building that dates largely from the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. It has grown around the personal collections of its founder and first Trustee, Cecil Humphery-Smith, and from other donations and purchases, into an extensive working library.

Now consisting of nearly thirty thousand items, much of the collection is unique. It has expanded over the years, now running the full length of the first floor, and occupying passages, and the walls of the lecture hall. It has many finding aids and text books outlining which records may be of beneficial use and where they may be found, rather than original records and transcripts. However, some transcripts of records have been deposited in the library over the years.

The collection has been formed to assist the staff of IHGS and Achievements and to supplement and support the work of both professional and amateur genealogists and heraldists and students, along with those involved in the applications of these subjects. The policy of the library is to acquire source material that may be of assistance to them in the study of the history and structure of the family.

If you are interested in donating or bequeathing your research or collections please visit the Deposit or Bequeath Your Collections page.