Cowgate to Collins Street:

the remarkable life of a Scottish musical instrument maker in colonial Melbourne

Coming soon! Launch date to be announced!

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-7649986-0-4

ISBN E-book: 978-1-7649986-1-1

Join Will as he travels from the crowded tenements of Edinburgh’s Old Town to the broad streets of colonial Melbourne, bearing his hopes and dreams to a city awash with money from the gold rush.

Will loves his trade making musical instruments under his prosperous uncle, bagpipe maker Thomas Glen, and is devoted to his family. But with limited prospects at home, he takes a momentous decision. He leaves his life in Edinburgh and all he’s ever known, first for London, then to the far-flung colony of Victoria. His choice will resonate for generations to come, but Will can’t know that now. He only wonders what his future will hold, and whether he will ever see his loved ones again.

Although he struggles at first to thrive in Melbourne, Will’s determination to succeed in the city’s music scene never wavers. But as he pursues his dream, he begins to feel lonely and isolated. Even if he makes his mark, will he remain unfulfilled without family about him to share in the rewards?

The author acknowledges that this book was written on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri-Woi-wurrung and the Wadawurrung peoples of the Kulin nation. She pays respect to their elders past, present and emerging and to all their storytellers over thousands of generations.

Image: Collins Street Looking East, Melbourne Vic, ca. 1880-1881. Photographer Fred Kruger, 1831 – 1888. Source: State Library of Victoria