19th-Century Australian Travel Writing
The Emigrant Family, or The Story of an Australian Settler was published anonymously, however it was later attributed to Alexander Harris (1805-1874), author of Settlers and Convicts (also published anonymously by an ‘Emigrant Mechanic’, in 1847). The Australian Dictionary of Biography notes that Alexander Harris was long thought to be the pen name of the author, but now it is believed to be his real name. The Emigrant Family was published as a second edition titled Martin Beck, or The Story of an Australian Settler in 1852. Divided into three volumes, this work chronicled life in the Australian colonies in a novelistic manner, providing information relevant for the capitalist migrant looking to emigrate. Beginning with new settlers looking for land in Australia, it described their life and trials in the Australian bush. The book was later published by the Newcastle Chronicle over 20 installments in 1876.
'Paradoxically, Australian nationalist accounts have tended to slight the earliest Australian literature by white settlers from the nineteenth century. This chapter surveys the literary history of this period, examining writers such as Oliné Keese, Ada Cambridge, Henry Kingsley, Rosa Praed, and Catherine Helen Spence. Drawing connections between these writers and the transnational Anglophone literary world centering on Great Britain and the United States, this chapter takes a comparative perspective that at once acknowledges the peripheral standing of these Australian texts and argues for their relevance to the history of the novel in English.' (Publication abstract)
