Joseph Dalgarno Melvin (15 August 1852 – 26 June 1909) was a Scottish-born journalist and editor, mainly based in Melbourne, Victoria.
[2] He joined The Argus sometime before 1877, and accompanied the Victorian police in their various attempts to run down the Kelly Gang.
Various stories have been told about his part in the climactic events: he was in the special train that took the troopers to Glenrowan and in a feat of daring, extinguished the carriage's external lights, which had made them a particular target; he was beside Sergeant Hare when Hare was shot in the wrist; he was the first to spot Ned Kelly fleeing, as Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart lay dead or dying; he was several times the intended target of Ned's pistol, but was unscathed; after Ned had been crippled by shots to the legs it was Melvin who supported the outlaw, and tended to his wounds on the long trip to the Melbourne jail; and they even struck up a form of friendship, terminated with a handshake at the base of the scaffold.
[3] Along with fellow journalists Carrington and McWhirter, Melvin gave evidence at the subsequent royal commission which inquired into the circumstances of the "Kelly Outbreak".
On his return to Melbourne, Melvin was promoted to sub-editor, the position he held when the paper folded in February 1892.