Edmund 'Garryowen' Finn (13 January 1819 – 4 April 1898) was an Australian journalist and author who wrote many colorful descriptions of the life and people in early

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Finn was born in

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

, Ireland, the son of William Finn and his wife Catherine, ''née'' Mason. He was educated for the priesthood at Galbally Abbey, near

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. Finn arrived in Melbourne on 19 July 1841 and was employed as a tutor of the classics. In 1845 Finn joined the staff of the

Port Phillip Herald ''The Herald'' was a morning and, later, evening broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, from 3 January 1840 to 5 October 1990, which is when it merged with its sister morning newspaper ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' to form the '' ...

under editor George Cavenagh. He worked on ''The Herald'' for thirteen years. In 1858 the chief secretary,

John O'Shanassy Sir John O'Shanassy, KCMG (18 February 1818 – 5 May 1883), was an Irish-Australian politician who served as the 2nd Premier of Victoria. O'Shanassy was born near Thurles in County Tipperary, Ireland, the son of a surveyor, and came to the Po ...

, who had been at school with Finn, appointed him clerk of the papers of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

, a position from which he retired on a pension in 1886 due to failing eyesight. In 1878 he published ''Der Eggsberiences ov Hans Schwarts … with Humorous Interleaves''. ''The Garryowen Sketches … 'by an old Colonist' '' were reprinted as a book in 1880. ''The Chronicles of Early Melbourne 1835 to 1852'' by Garryowen, in two volumes, were published in 1888. Finn married twice. A son, Edmund, published ''A Priest's Secret'' (Melbourne, 1888) and other works.

References

*'Finn, Edmund (1819–1898)', ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 1, MUP, 1966, p. 376. Retrieved on 19 October 2008 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Edmund 1819 births 1898 deaths Australian people of Irish descent 19th-century Australian journalists 19th-century Australian male writers 19th-century male writers Settlers of Melbourne Australian male journalists

Further reading

References