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Howard Vincent
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Howard Vincent
Colonel Sir Charles Edward Howard Vincent KCMG CB DL (31 May 1849 – 7 April 1908), known as Howard Vincent or C. E. Howard Vincent, was a British soldier, barrister, police official and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1908.
Vincent was born in Slinfold, near Horsham in Sussex, the second son of Sir Frederick Vincent, 11th Baronet, the village's rector. His brothers included Sir William Vincent, 12th Baronet; Claude Vincent, who became an administrator in India; and the financier and diplomat Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon.
He was educated at Westminster School and in November 1866 entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Passing out in 1868, he purchased a commission in the 23rd Foot (later the Royal Welch Fusiliers).
He was promoted lieutenant in 1871. In 1871, he served as a correspondent with the Daily Telegraph in Berlin and then went on to Russia to learn the language and study the country's military organisation. In 1872 he began to write articles and lecture at the Royal United Services Institution. After his regiment was posted to Ireland later that year, he began to address political meetings on the Irish question, expressing generally Liberal views.
On 3 May 1873, Vincent enrolled as a pupil barrister at the Inner Temple. In that and the following year he travelled to Turkey and again to Russia, learning Turkish (to add to Russian, French, German and Italian, which he already knew). He also became an expert on the politics of the Near East. In 1874, he was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Militia as a captain. He resigned his commission in November 1875, but a month later was appointed lieutenant-colonel commanding the 40th (Central London Rifle Rangers) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps, again resigning his commission in 1878. He continued to write on political and military matters.
He was called to the bar on 20 January 1876 and joined the South-Eastern Circuit in the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, although he never really devoted himself to the law. On the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, the Daily Telegraph sent him to report on the Russian Army, but he was refused permission to accompany the army into the field, as the Russians were suspicious that he spoke Russian and suspected him of being a Turkish sympathiser.
In 1877 he enrolled as a student at the faculté de droit of the University of Paris and investigated the Parisian police. When, later that year, the Metropolitan Police Detective Branch was hit by a scandal in which several senior officers were dismissed, Vincent was asked to report on the Paris detective system. This so impressed R. A. Cross, the Home Secretary, that in 1878 he was appointed to the new post of Director of Criminal Investigation to head the new Criminal Investigation Department.
Although without the official status of Assistant Commissioner, this post was equivalent to the two Assistant Commissioners in almost every way. Vincent answered directly to the Home Secretary and not to the Commissioner, which put him in a rather strange position, as his deputy, Adolphus Williamson, and his men did answer to the Commissioner (luckily Vincent and Commissioner Sir Edmund Henderson had a good relationship). Vincent completely reorganised the department. From 1883 he also edited the Police Gazette. He was rewarded for his police service by being appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1885.
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Howard Vincent
Colonel Sir Charles Edward Howard Vincent KCMG CB DL (31 May 1849 – 7 April 1908), known as Howard Vincent or C. E. Howard Vincent, was a British soldier, barrister, police official and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1908.
Vincent was born in Slinfold, near Horsham in Sussex, the second son of Sir Frederick Vincent, 11th Baronet, the village's rector. His brothers included Sir William Vincent, 12th Baronet; Claude Vincent, who became an administrator in India; and the financier and diplomat Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon.
He was educated at Westminster School and in November 1866 entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Passing out in 1868, he purchased a commission in the 23rd Foot (later the Royal Welch Fusiliers).
He was promoted lieutenant in 1871. In 1871, he served as a correspondent with the Daily Telegraph in Berlin and then went on to Russia to learn the language and study the country's military organisation. In 1872 he began to write articles and lecture at the Royal United Services Institution. After his regiment was posted to Ireland later that year, he began to address political meetings on the Irish question, expressing generally Liberal views.
On 3 May 1873, Vincent enrolled as a pupil barrister at the Inner Temple. In that and the following year he travelled to Turkey and again to Russia, learning Turkish (to add to Russian, French, German and Italian, which he already knew). He also became an expert on the politics of the Near East. In 1874, he was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Militia as a captain. He resigned his commission in November 1875, but a month later was appointed lieutenant-colonel commanding the 40th (Central London Rifle Rangers) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps, again resigning his commission in 1878. He continued to write on political and military matters.
He was called to the bar on 20 January 1876 and joined the South-Eastern Circuit in the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, although he never really devoted himself to the law. On the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, the Daily Telegraph sent him to report on the Russian Army, but he was refused permission to accompany the army into the field, as the Russians were suspicious that he spoke Russian and suspected him of being a Turkish sympathiser.
In 1877 he enrolled as a student at the faculté de droit of the University of Paris and investigated the Parisian police. When, later that year, the Metropolitan Police Detective Branch was hit by a scandal in which several senior officers were dismissed, Vincent was asked to report on the Paris detective system. This so impressed R. A. Cross, the Home Secretary, that in 1878 he was appointed to the new post of Director of Criminal Investigation to head the new Criminal Investigation Department.
Although without the official status of Assistant Commissioner, this post was equivalent to the two Assistant Commissioners in almost every way. Vincent answered directly to the Home Secretary and not to the Commissioner, which put him in a rather strange position, as his deputy, Adolphus Williamson, and his men did answer to the Commissioner (luckily Vincent and Commissioner Sir Edmund Henderson had a good relationship). Vincent completely reorganised the department. From 1883 he also edited the Police Gazette. He was rewarded for his police service by being appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1885.
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