MELBOURNE OBSERVATIONS

Larrikins

In the Melbourne Police Court a noted hoodlum who went by the name of Tommy the Nut and many other aliases was charged by a well-known Irish sergeant of police named Dalton. "What's he been doing of now, sergeant?" said the Magistrate. "Oh, he was a larrikin (a larking) about the streets, Your worship" "What?" asked the Magistrate. "Larkin' sir". The next day a reporter wrote the story and used 'larrikin' as a noun. It stuck.

Despite the above the evidence was never found.

[from: MEMENTOS OF OLD SYDNEY scrapbook with clippings and hand-written entries. 1830]