Endowed by Richard III. in 1484, to be pre-sided over by the Earl Marshal (an office held by the Dukes of Norfolk), the Heralds' College had its first home in Pulteney's Inn. Queen Mary granted to the college in 1554 the present site in Queen Victoria Street, London, E.c., and the building, as it stands now, was erected after the Great Fire. Here the searcher for armorial bearings must go, and here she will find the largest and most comprehensive heraldic collection in the world. Entering the office at the Heralds' College, the personal applicant will be charged 5s. for an ordinary search, which, however, may be made by correspondence if a fee of 10s. 6d. be paid. A general search of the records costs £2 2s., and a general search through both records and the collections £5 5s. A transcript of a pedigree costs 5s. for each generation transcribed, with a sum over and above this for a sketch of the arms, varying according to the work involved. The cost of a Grant of Arms is £76 10s., but designs or " pictures " of arms are extra, ranging from £1 1s. to £5 5s. each. One point of interest to inquirers should be made clear in reference to the fee of £2 2s. already referred to for a general search. It is that people owning names such as "Smith" or "Jones," or some other equally general name, cannot avail themselves of this two guinea search. The heralds say that there are so many families of these names upon the records that a sum of 30 at least would be charged in place of the £2 2s.

Dealing with the Heralds' College it would be well to correct the mistaken idea which many people have, that in order to make a change of name, such as may be required under the directions of a will, it is necessary to obtain a Royal Licence or an Act of Parliament. This may be done by deed enrolled in Chancery, supplemented by an advertisement in the Times," at a figure much lower than the 100 which it costs through the Heralds' College.