Edmund Finn (a.k.a. “Garryowen’), pioneer Irish journalist, conveyed the flavour of colonial life in the anecdotal and historical sketches he wrote for his voluminous ‘Chronicles of Early Melbourne’, published in 1888. This present book is made up of selected excerpts and presented with twenty-six illustrations of the period. Subjects have been collated as Chapters (‘Taverns and Grog’, ‘Execution’, ‘Sports and Pastimes’ etc.). It is a highly amusing and valuable study of 19th century Melbourne and its inhabitants.