Cecil Humphery-Smith
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Cecil Raymond Julian Humphery-Smith (29 October 1928 – 12 January 2021) was a British
genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...
and
heraldist Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
.


Early life

Cecil Humphery-Smith was born on 29 October 1928 to Frederick Humphery-Smith of
Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...
,
West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
, a company secretary appointed
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
in 1951 for his role as honorary secretary of the Burgess Hill Savings Committee, and his wife Agnes Violet (née Boxall). His godfather was the priest and headmaster
Julian Bickersteth The Rev. Canon Kenneth Julian Faithfull Bickersteth, (5 July 1885 – 16 October 1962) was an English Anglican priest, military chaplain, and headmaster from the prominent Bickersteth family. He served as Archdeacon of Maidstone from 1942–58. ...
, who encouraged the development of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies and in whose memory Humphery-Smith established a prize at the institute. He was educated at
Hurstpierpoint College (''Blessed are the pure in heart'') , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent School , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Dominic Mo ...
and, after graduating from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
in 1950 with a
BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
, undertook postgraduate studies in
Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
and
Mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...
at the
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...
and the Parma-Piacenza Department of Agronomy.The Hurst Johnian Club newsletter Spring 2011, ed. G. L. Hill, News and Views, letter from "Cecil R. J. Humphery-Smith, OBE (Red Cross, 1941–1947)", pp. 25–26 URL= https://theojclub.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/apr-2011-spring-2011-newsletter.pdf


Career

Following some years in Italy working with tomatoes for
Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...
and other companies, it was Humphery-Smith who brought the concept of
family history Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family a ...
to the world of genealogy with his 1957 lecture "Introducing Family History." In 1961, he founded the
Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies The United Kingdom's Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) was founded in 1961 at Canterbury, Kent (its current location) by Cecil Humphery-Smith. Its library was created by donations from Humphery-Smith, Aylmer Buesst and others. ...
in
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
and edited its journal, ''FAMILY HISTORY'' between 1962 and 2021. In 2008 Humphery-Smith was awarded an honorary Fellowship of
Canterbury Christ Church University , mottoeng = The truth shall set you free , established = 2005 – gained University status 1962 – teacher training college , type = Public , religious_affiliation = Church of England , city ...
. Humphery-Smith was a lecturer at
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, amongst other institutions, for much of his professional career. He also served as a Fellow with the
International Commission on Orders of Chivalry The International Commission for Orders of Chivalry (ICOC; Italian: ''Commissione internazionale permanente per lo studio degli ordini cavallereschi'') is a privately run, privately funded organisation composed of scholars on chivalric matters a ...
. He long was the only British member of Council of L'Académie Internationale d'Héraldique and received several other academic and literary honours and awards from around the world. In 2004, he was made an Officer of the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
for "Services to Education in Heraldry and Genealogy." After being severely injured by a reversing vehicle in a car park in 2005 Humphery-Smith gave up lecturing, but continued to edit the Family History journal.


Personal life

In 1951, Humphery-Smith married Alice Elizabeth Gwendoline Cogle (d. 2017); they had one son and five daughters.


See also

*
The Heraldry Society The Heraldry Society is a British organization that is devoted to studying and promoting heraldry and related subjects. In 1947, a twenty-year-old John Brooke-Little founded the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries. This name was changed to The Her ...


References


External links


IGHS Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphery-Smith, Cecil 1928 births 2021 deaths People educated at Hurstpierpoint College English biochemists English mycologists English genealogists British heraldists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada Fellows of the Society of Genealogists