To answer this question, you need to understand the history of fingerprint identification.
Option A) Sir William Herschel - This option is correct. Sir William Herschel, a British administrator in colonial India, is generally recognized as the first person to use fingerprints as a means of identification. In the 1850s, he began using fingerprints to sign documents and later realized their potential for identification purposes.
Option B) Dr. Henry Faulds - This option is incorrect. Dr. Henry Faulds, a Scottish physician, played a significant role in promoting the use of fingerprints for identification. However, he came after Sir William Herschel and is not recognized as the first person to use fingerprints for this purpose.
Option C) Sir Edward Henry - This option is incorrect. Sir Edward Henry, a British police officer, is known for developing the Henry Classification System, a system for classifying fingerprints. While he made important contributions to the field, he is not the first person to use fingerprints for identification.
Option D) Alphonse Bertillon - This option is incorrect. Alphonse Bertillon, a French criminologist, is known for developing the Bertillon System, a system for anthropometric identification. This system used measurements of various body parts but did not involve fingerprints.
The correct answer is A) Sir William Herschel. He is recognized as the first person to use fingerprints as a means of identification.