Sir William Herschel, Chief Magistrate of the Hooghly
district in Jungipoor, India, first used fingerprints on
native contracts.
On a whim, and with no thought toward personal
identification, Herschel had Rajyadhar Konai, a local
businessman, impress his hand print on a contract.
The idea was merely "... to frighten [him] out of
all thought of repudiating his signature." The native was
suitably impressed,
and Herschel made a habit of requiring palm prints
--and later, simply the prints of the right Index and
Middle fingers--on every contract made with the locals.
Personal contact with the document,
they believed, made the contract more
binding than if they simply signed it.
Thus, the first wide-scale, modern-day use
of fingerprints was predicated,
not upon scientific evidence,
but upon superstitious beliefs.
As his fingerprint collection grew,
however, Herschel began
to note that the inked impressions could,
indeed, prove or disprove identity.
While his experience with fingerprinting was
admittedly limited, Sir Herschel's private
conviction that all fingerprints were
unique to the individual, as well as permanent
throughout that individual's life,
inspired him to expand their use.
Source here....
