AustLit

The Colonial Magazine and East India Review continued Simmond's Colonial Magazine and Foreign Miscellany and maintained that journal's themes and emphases. In an 'Address to British Colonists and Colonizers' in the January 1852 issue of the Colonial Magazine, the editor, William H. G. Kingston, wrote that the original publication was established 'for the purpose of making known to the British public the importance of that mighty empire on which the sun never sets, the character, resources, and advantages of each portion, and at the same time of giving the Colonists an organ of their own, by means of which they might express their wishes, their intentions, and expectations to their brethren at home.' This framework, noted Kingston, placed the journal in a difficult situation. 'We cannot collect a staff of professional writers, who may range over the whole field of literature to find their subjects', but instead are dependent on writers with specialist knowledge. 'Our contributors must, in most cases, reside in, or have visited the Colonies, and be well acquainted with Colonial life and affairs, and they must have the power, the will, and the time to write.' The aim was not so much at 'literary excellence as at affording correct information and truthful accounts of the Colonies, and more especially as being the expositors of the public opinion of each of them.' ([23].1 (January 1853): 1-2)

Kingston did not visit Australia himself, although some of his stories for young people have Australian bush settings. He did, however, have a vital interest in colonisation and emigration. (During his editorship of the Colonial Magazine, he published a manual for colonists, How to Emigrate.)

The Colonial Magazine, published in London, included writing on and about the colonies in Australia, New Zealand, India, Ceylon, Canada, South Africa and the West Indies. Many articles provided practical and specific advice on matters of commerce and agriculture; others reports surveyed the developing role of British colonial governments.

The Colonial Magazine also included the prose writings of colonial visitors and residents. These often responded to issues of colonial travel, 'first impressions', relations with indigenous peoples and the difficulties of settlement. A review of Charles Rowcroft's An Emigrant in Search of a Colony was published in the December 1851 issue. (To date (2010), it is only known review of the novel.) Also reviewed was Alexander Harris's The Emigrant Family, or, The Story of an Australian Settler, B. C. Peck's Recollections of Sydney, the Capital of New South Wales and John Henderson's Excursions and Adventures in New South Wales.