AustLit

Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing

Henry Melville (Henry Saxelby Melville Wintle, 1802-1873) was a journalist, author, playwright, occultist and Freemason. In his The Present State of Australasia, Melville constructed himself as a reformer, stating in the Preface that after residing for more than twenty years in the different settlements of Australia he was well versed in all subjects relating to the colonies. He gave particular emphasis to his chapters regarding emigration and land regulations, stating that these chapters would provide all necessary information for the potential settler. In its entirety, Melville's work was a commentary on prison discipline, providing his own theories for the improvement of the convict system and the colonies in an almost arrogant fashion. Melville also described the history, geography, and daily life as well as his travels, within the Australian colonies. The work was also published under the title Australasia and Prison Discipline (also in 1851), but both titles are identical. Melville also wrote The History of Van Diemen’s Land from the year 1824 to 1835 (1835) and Australasia and Prison Discipline (1851).