William Melville
| William Melville | |
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William Melville (1850–1918), the head of Scotland Yard's Special Branch and later the first chief of the British Secret Service
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| Allegiance |
United Kingdom 
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| Service | Secret Service Bureau |
| Rank | Head of the British Secret Service Bureau |
| Codename(s) | M |
| William Morgan | |
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| Born | 25 April 1850 Sneem, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Died | 1 February 1918 (aged 67) London |
| Nationality | British |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | James and Catherine Melville |
| Spouse | Kate Reilly, Amelia Foy |
| Children | Kate, William, Cecilia, James Melville |
| Occupation | Detective, Spymaster |
William Melville (25 April 1850 – 1 February 1918) was an Irish law enforcement officer and the first chief of the British Secret Service Bureau.
William Melville was born son of a baker and publican in Direenaclaurig Cross, Sneem, County Kerry, Ireland. He moved to London in the 1860s and followed his father's footsteps as a baker before he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1872.
He married Catherine (Kate) O'Reilly on 20 February 1879 in London (St Saviour).
He was once dismissed for insubordination but was later reinstated and later promoted to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
In 1882 he was chosen to be one of the founding members of the Special Irish Branch that was founded to work against Fenians and anarchists. Melville was posted to the Le Havre port, during which posting his children, James Benjamin (1885) (later Sir James Melville KC) and Cecile Victorinne (1886 ; died in London in 1891), were born.
In December 1888 Melville returned to London and assigned to protect the Shah of Persia in his state visit. His duties later expanded to the protection of British Royal Family and he foiled the Jubilee Plot against Queen Victoria in 1887. In 1891 he began to campaign against anarchists by raiding and wrecking anarchist clubs and underground printing houses. He also revealed the Walsall Plot.
In 1893 Melville became Superintendent of Scotland Yard's Special Branch when his predecessor John Littlechild retired to become a private investigator. When he fired veteran sergeant Patrick McIntyre, McIntyre went to press and claimed that Melville had instigated the whole Walsall Plot himself, a claim vindicated by police files released over 80 years later.
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