William Lance Conlay

William Lance Conlay CBE (21 June 1869 – 3 January 1927) was a British colonial administrator and Commissioner of Police of the Federated Malay States from 1916 to 1925. Conlay is well-known as the inventor of the "Conlay System," which was a system for fingerprinting and fingerprint identification.

Early life William Lance Conlay was born on 21 June 1869, and joined the 21st Hussars and was posted to India.

Career In 1893, he arrived in the Federated Malay States, was appointed Inspector of the 1st Battalion Perak Sikhs, and took part in an expedition to Pahang where he remained until 1902. Whilst in Pahang he held various appointments: acting Junior Officer, Ulu Pahang (1897), acting District Officer, Temerloh and Kuantan (1898), and Assistant District Officer, Rompin and Kuantan(1899).

In 1902, he entered the Federal Service as Assistant Commissioner of Police and Superintendent of Prisons, Negeri Sembilan, in the same year was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police, Selangor, and in 1904, served in the same position in Kinta.

The Conlay System The Conlay System was a fingerprint identification system that was employed for decades. In 1904, while working in the FMS Police, Conlay was on leave in England, when he was ordered to report to New Scotland Yard to study the Henry System of fingerprint identification, which had been devised by Edward Henry. Conlay thought this system was inadequate, and devised his own system. After sending his methodology up the chain of command, the Home Secretary sent it to Henry for review, who said that the system held no advantage over his own system. After the rejection, Conlay introduced the Henry System to the FMS Police. Six months later, however, the Conlay System was trialed.

It was deemed superior to the Henry System in nearly every way. One fingerprinting expert wrote that while the Henry System took seven years to master, the Conlay System could be taught in a few weeks. The Conlay System broke up fingerprints into three main groups: Whorls, Loops, and Arches. and Conlay Road and Conlay MRT Station in Kuala Lumpur was named after him.