13 Facts About William Melville

William Melville was an Irish law enforcement officer and the first chief of the British Secret Service Bureau.

William Melville was born into a Roman Catholic family in Direenaclaurig Cross, Sneem, County Kerry, the son of a baker and publican.

William Melville moved to London in the 1860s and followed his father's footsteps as a baker before he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1872.

In December 1888 William Melville returned to London and was assigned to protect the Shah of Persia in his state visit.

In 1893 William 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 William Melville had instigated the whole Walsall Plot himself, a claim vindicated by police files released over 80 years later.

William Melville went to Victoria Station to personally arrest bomber Theodule Meunier.

In 1896 William Melville recruited Shlomo Rosenblum as an informer in an organization he suspected to be involved with Russian anarchists.

In June 1900 William Melville met future stage magician Harry Houdini when he came to Scotland Yard to showcase his abilities as an escapologist.

When Houdini released himself easily from the police handcuffs, William Melville befriended him and reputedly learned lock picking.

On 1 November 1903, William Melville resigned as superintendent but was secretly recruited to lead a new intelligence section in the War Office, MO3, which was redesignated M05 in 1907.

William Melville's unit was folded into Kell's department, which, while acting in Home matters, remained subordinate to the War Office.

Still, the service had a small budget and on occasion, William Melville had to do the job himself.