Before lunch the Club Committee gathered in the Harry Colt Room for a photo-opportunity to record their membership for 2024. It's always difficult to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time, even with the help of our speaker Chris, so this is most members' favourite, but not mine!
There were no new members for Chairman John Goodhead to introduce this month so it as straight down to eating an excellent meal of Roast Cod with Herb & Caper Crust, New Potatoes, Parsley Sauce followed by a Warm Treacle Tart with Ice Cream.
After lunch Bill Scott introduced our speaker, Chris Truran, a former Scene of Crimes Officer for the Metropolitan Police to talk about Fingerprints and DNA , and their use in forensic investigations. In his introduction Chris said that he was well used to Probus Club lectures being an ex-President of Enfield Probus Club.
The use of fingerprints as a means of identification was pioneered by Sir William Herschel in the middle of the 19th century. He proved 'persistence' of fingerprints, the prints you are born with, you die with. As a magistrate in India he used them as proof of identity and later collaborated with Sir Francis Galton who established the fingerprint classification system which was introduced by Scotland Yard in 1901.
Initially the national Fingerprint Collection was paper based only and was quite extensive by the time it was moved into the New Scotland Yard building in the 1960s. It actually exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the floor it was first positioned in but luckily split into two before serious damage ensued.
The introduction of computers and the development of DNA as a means of identification has made the task of catching criminals and perhaps more importantly proof of innocence much easier for modern policing. Apparently there are now over six million records on the UK database, although not all have been found guilty! Thank you Chris for a most entertaining and informative talk.
On 28th March our Catering Secretary John Gilbert and Treasurer Phil Wilkins met up with Andrew Cousens, Catering Manager of Cuddington Golf Club, to present him with a leaving gift of a voucher and a chef's apron of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, of which he is a life-long supporter.
Thank you Andrew for keeping us well fed for so many years, best wishes for the future.
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