William James Herschel 2nd Bt (1833 - 1917)

Born 9 Jan 1833 in Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 24 Oct 1917 at age 84 in Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

William Herschel 2nd Bt is Notable.

Sir William James Herschel 2nd Baronet of Slough was born January 9, 1833 in Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, the son of Sir John Frederick W. Herschel and Marie Stewart Herschel. ^[1]He was the brother of Caroline Emelia Mary Herschel, Isabella Herschel, Margaret Louisa Herschel, Alexander Stewart Herschel, John Herschel Colonel, Maria Sophia Herschel, Amelia Herschel, Julia Mary Herschel, Matilda Rose Herschel, Francesca Herschel and Constance Anne Herschel

On 19 May 1864 he married (Anne) Emma Hardcastle, youngest daughter of Alfred Hardcastle of Hatcham House, Surrey. She died at the birth of their second son, having borne him 4 children:

1. Margaret Eliza Emma Herschel,
2. Emma Dorothea Herschel,
3. Sir John Charles William Herschel, 3rd Baronet
4. Arthur Edward Hardcastle Herschel^[2]

Herschel is credited with being the first European to note the value of fingerprints for identification. He recognized that fingerprints were unique and permanent. He used them to document his contracts. ^[3]

Sir William died October 24, 1917 in Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ The Peerage page 21702
2. ↑ A. Spokes Symonds, ‘Herschel, Sir William James, second baronet (1833–1917)’, rev. Katherine Prior, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
3. ↑ The Origin of Fingerprints by William J. Herschel
4. ↑ Death Of Sir William Herschel. Author Of Finger-Print Identity System. (Obituaries) The Times Thursday, Oct 25, 1917; pg. 9; Issue 41618; col F