History of Fingerprinting Pioneers

Flashcards covering important figures, concepts, and contributions in the history of fingerprinting.

Sir William Herschel

1833-1917. A civil servant from India in 1853, who first experimented with fingerprints for identity verification and established the principles of persistence and immutability.

Persistence

The principle that fingerprints remain unchanged over an individual's lifetime.

Immutability

The principle that fingerprints are unique to each individual.

Dr Henry Faulds

1843-1930.

The first European to suggest the use of fingerprints in criminal investigations and the first to use a latent fingerprint to eliminate a suspect.

Anthropometry

A system devised by Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914) for classification based on body measurements. Taken into use in 1882.

Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914)

Clerk in the prefecture of Police of Paris. Made chief of department of judicial identity. Involved in the 1st recorded case of a conviction using fingerprints in Paris 1902.

Fingerprint Bureau

The first organized department for collecting and analyzing fingerprints, opened by Juan Vucetich in Argentina 1892.

Sir Francis Galton

1822-1911. A scientist who developed a classification system for fingerprints and published foundational works on the subject. Created a rudimentary system of classification based on four patterns.

Juan Vucetich

1858-1925. Developed his own classification system which was used in spainish countries. His first experiment led to the 1st fingerprint bureau.

M. Forgeot

1891. French Criminologist. Credited with using ink to recover latent prints on paper. He also advocated the use of powders to develop the sweat marks.

Sir Edward Henry

1850-1931. A British police official who developed the Henry Classification System, which was widely adopted for fingerprint identification. His system laid the groundwork for modern fingerprinting techniques.

Dactylography

The study of fingerprints and their use in identification.

Edmond Locard

1877-1966. A pioneer in forensic science who contributed to fingerprint identification and established rules for positive identification using Galton points. ‘Tripartite Rule’. He also studied Poroscopy and presented evidence in court in 1912.

Dermatoglyphics

The scientific study of fingerprints and skin patterns, particularly on the fingers, palms, and soles.

Detective Chief Superintendent Fredrick Cherrill

33 years in the fingerprint department. 1954 - ‘The fingerprint system at Scotland Yard’ was published. First major book on fingerprints published for some time.

Inez Whipple

1871-1929. She met Professor Harris Hawthorne Wilder in 1902 and collaborated to produce various papers on dermatoglyphic.

Harris Hawthorne Wilder

1864-1928. A zoologist who researched the development of volar surfaces and suggested similarities between human and primate friction ridges.

Harold Cummins

1893-1976. Extensive research on the formation and development of the volar pads on the foetus. He describes how the physical aspects of the volar pads, including location, differential growth, shape and size all affect friction ridge development and that the degree of influence was dependent upon the stage of regression at the time of development.

Alfred Hale

1952. Published a thesis ‘Morphogenesis of the volar skin in the human foetus. - explains how the formation and development of the friction ridges occurs, stressing the impact of the differential growth on their development.

Michio Okajima

Japanese scientist who completed research into incipient ridges. Published ‘Dermal and Epidermal structure of the volar skin’ in 1976.

Mulvihill & Smith

1969. Researchers who extensively discussed the formation of fingerprint patterns and the influences of volar pad development.

Dr William J Babler

1949. A researcher whose work on the influence of bone structure on volar pad shape provided insights into fingerprint pattern configuration.