Person    | Male  Born 26/7/1850  Died 19/2/1931

Sir Edward Henry

Categories: Armed Forces

Countries: Indian Sub-continent

Metropolitan Police Commissioner 1903 - 1918, pioneer of fingerprint identification and saw the introduction of dogs into the force.

Born Shadwell. Trained for the Indian Civil Service and went there in 1873. 1891 appointed Inspector-General of Police of Bengal. 1896-7 oversaw the introduction of a system for classifying fingerprints which enabled them to be organised and searched. This method was implemented throughout India. 1901 he was recalled to Britain and put in charge of the CID where he immediately established the Fingerprint Bureau. 1903 appointed Commissioner of the Met. and carried on with other modernisations. Knighted in 1910.

In November 1912 an attempt was made on Henry's life at his home in Kensington, where the plaque is. The New York Times reports that Henry was attacked as he arrived home by car.  Bowes, a cab driver whose licence had been refused fired and Henry was hit by a bullet before his chauffeur brought the gunman under control.  The injury was serious but when Bowes was released from prison in 1922 Henry paid for his passage to Canada for a fresh start, (and maybe Henry felt safer with Bowes so far away). Died at home in Cissbury, near Ascot.

Background note: The licensing authority for cabs was the Public Carriage Office which was part of the Metropolitan Police.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Edward Henry

Commemorated ati

Sir Edward Henry

Sir Edward Henry, 1850 - 1931, Metropolitan Police Commissioner 1903 - 1918, ...

Read More

Other Subjects

Arthur Harris

Arthur Harris

Resident of the West Ward, Hendon who served and died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
H. E. Bishop

H. E. Bishop

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
Lieutenant Gerald Maurice Clive Toft

Lieutenant Gerald Maurice Clive Toft

Resident of Golders Green killed serving in WW2. Gerald Maurice Clive Toft was born in 1923, the elder son of Edmund Toft (1894-1941) and Violette Maud Hélène Toft née Duché (1895-1966). His birth...

Person, Armed Forces, France

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
H. W. Cunnington

H. W. Cunnington

Resident of Willesden who volunteered and died in the Anglo Boer War, 1899-1900.

Person, Armed Forces, South Africa

War dead, Other war
1 memorial
Sir John Samuel Purcell, K.C.B.

Sir John Samuel Purcell, K.C.B.

John Samuel Purcell was born on 31 May 1839 in Ireland, a son of Dr John Francis Powell who was a Physician in Ordinary to successive Lords-Lieutenant of Ireland and later an Irish Poor Law Commiss...

Person, Armed Forces, Politics & Administration, Ireland

1 memorial

Previously viewed

H. Woods, Snr.

H. Woods, Snr.

Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
William Sinclair

William Sinclair

Role on the lost expedition: Able seaman on SS Terror. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More

Born Milk Street. In conflict with Henry VIII over religion he was imprisoned in the tower, found guilty of treason and beheaded on Tower Hill. Final words: "The King's good servant, but God's Firs...

Person, Execution, Literature, Politics & Administration, Seriously Famous

16 memorials