Sir Frank Trevor Roger Bigham,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, CB (22 May 1876 – 23 November 1954) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, an Assistant Commissioner of the London

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

from 1914 to 1931, and Deputy Commissioner from 1931 to 1935. He was the first officer to hold the position of Deputy Commissioner as a separate rank and not as an honorary title while also serving as an Assistant Commissioner.

Early life and education

Trevor Bigham was the third son (although the second surviving) of the judge, John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey, and was entitled to the style "The Honourable" after 1910 due to his father's peerage. He was a King's Scholar at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

from 1890 to 1895, and then went up to

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

. He took a second in Mods in 1895 and a first in '' Literae Humaniores'' in 1899. In 1901, he was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

. On 24 January 1900, he was commissioned a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the 24th (

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.

Police career

On 4 December 1909, Bigham was appointed the Chief Constable of the Metropolitan Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID). On 29 January 1914, he succeeded Frederick Bullock as Assistant Commissioner "L", in charge of the Legal Department of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he spent most of his time dealing with the control of

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

s, and in 1919 he was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB). On 6 November 1922, Bigham and his colleague, Assistant Commissioner Frank Elliott, were sent a box of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

éclairs poisoned with

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...

. Luckily, they were suspicious and did not eat them, and Walter Tatam, who had a history of mental problems, was later found guilty of attempted

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. In 1928, he became Assistant Commissioner "C", in charge of CID. He was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) in the Metropolitan Police Centenary Honours of 3 June 1929. Following the sudden death of Sir

Charles Royds Vice-Admiral Sir Charles William Rawson Royds KBE CMG ADC FRGS (1 February 1876 – 5 January 1931) was a career Royal Navy officer who later served as Assistant Commissioner "A" of the London Metropolitan Police from 1926 to 1931. In this rol ...

on 5 January 1931, Bigham succeeded him as Assistant Commissioner "A", in charge of administration and uniformed operations and with the courtesy title of Deputy Commissioner. He also immediately became Acting Commissioner, as

Lord Byng Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935) was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation. Known to friends as "Bung ...

was absent on medical leave in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Shortly afterwards, following a reorganisation, he became solely Deputy Commissioner, being succeeded as Assistant Commissioner "A" by Lieutenant-Colonel David Allan. Bigham retired in January 1935.

Family

Bigham married, at

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

, London, on 17 December 1901, Frances Leonora Tomlin, daughter of J. L. Tomlin. They had two daughters. She died in 1927, and four years later he married Edith Drysdale, a civilian official at Scotland Yard.

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 25 November 1954

External links

Photographic portrait of Bigham in the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigham, Trevor Assistant Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis Deputy Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis 1876 births 1954 deaths English barristers Members of the Middle Temple People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Younger sons of viscounts