Sir William James Herschel, 2nd Baronet, who lived from 1833 to 1917, was a British officer of the Indian Civil Service and the eldest son of the astronomer John Herschel. Working in Bengal, India, he became the first European to recognize that fingerprints are unique and permanent to each individual, documenting his own prints over decades as proof, and in 1858 he began the practice of placing fingerprints on contracts, among the first known practical uses of fingerprints for identification. His work laid the groundwork for fingerprinting as a forensic identification technique.
Facts
Defining ContributionFirst European to note the value of fingerprints for identification 1 Connections
Disciplines Pioneered
William James Herschel, a British official in India, began using fingerprints for identification and contract verification from 1858, among the earliest documented systematic uses predating Galton and Henry.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Sir William Herschel, 2nd Baronet
Infobox, birth_date
1833-01-09
Infobox, death_date
1917-10-24
Infobox, birth_place
Slough, England
Introduction
was a British ICS officer in India
Fingerprinting
first European to note the value of fingerprints for identification
View the Source2. Wikidata: William James Herschel
Wikidata Q1370601, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.