Herbert Dowbiggin
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Sir Herbert Layard Dowbiggin CMG |
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|---|---|
| 8th Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka) | |
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In office 1913–1937 |
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| Preceded by | Cyril Chapman Longden |
| Succeeded by | P. N. Banks |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 December 1880 Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) |
| Died | 24 May 1966 Milden, Suffolk |
| Profession | Police officer |
Sir Herbert Layard Dowbiggin, CMG, (26 December 1880 – 24 May 1966) was the eighth British colonial Inspector General of Police of British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1913 to 1937, the longest tenure of office of an Inspector General of Police (IGP). He was called the 'Father of Colonial Police'. He was knighted in 1931.
Dowbiggin was the sixth child of Rev. Richard Thomas Dowbiggin and Laetitia Anna née Layard. His father had translated the Bible into Sinhala, and his younger brother Hugh Blackwell Layard Dowbiggin was born in Sri Lanka. His maternal grandfather was Sir Charles Peter Layard, the Government Agent of the Western province (after whom Layard's Broadway in Colombo was named) who was himself the grandson of Gualterus Mooyaart, Administrateur of Jaffna under the Dutch United East India Company, the VOC. He was a relative of Sir Henry Austen Layard of Nineveh fame and of the naturalist Edgar Leopold Layard.
Dowbiggin was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and joined the Ceylon Police in 1901. He became Inspector-General in 1913. During Dowbiggin's tenure of office in Sri Lanka, the strength of the Force was enhanced considerably and the posts of two Deputy Inspectors General were also created. He oversaw an expansion of the Force: the number of Police stations increased, so that by 1916 there were 138 all over the island.
He also modernised the Force, introducing new techniques of investigation such as fingerprinting and photography and improving the telecommunications network for the Police as well as increasing the mobility of the Force. The analysis of crime reports became more systematic. He purchased the land on Havelock Road, Colombo, on which the Police Headquarters and the 'Police Park' playing fields are located.
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